The Mayor's daughter
by Shan2theWow
Summary: Madelyn is 16 years old, and starting to wonder if her younger brother is right... Maybe Storybrooke isn't just a regular, small, town in the middle of Maine. This is my take on Regina having a daughter that's added into the mix. The story will follow the show from the beginning, but will focus on Madelyn. *I do not own Once Upon a Time
1. Season 1, Pilot: Chapter 1

**I do not own Once Upon A Time. Just the characters and ideas I add in. I hope you enjoy.**

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I stared down at the test in my hand. The test with the D- sitting at the top, in red ink. How had this happened? I'd never gotten anything below an A- and now this is my second exam, in history, with a D? The bell rang and students began packing their bags.

I got up, shoving the test into my backpack. I just wanted this day to be over, but at least it was lunch time. As I started to head to lunch I heard, "Ms. Mills?" I turned around at the sound of Mrs. Arnold's voice and looked at her nervously. "Please stay a moment," Mrs. Arnold asked.

Once all the students had filed out, Mrs. Arnold turned to face me. "Maddie, you know your grade has been slipping in this class, correct?"

I couldn't look up at her. However, Mrs. Arnold didn't continue. Finally, I looked up and nodded once. "Would you like to talk about anything? Is everything okay?" Mrs. Arnold questioned with sincerity.

"I'm fine. I'll bring my grade back up." I replied quietly. I preferred to be invisible. I hated being called out in class, and really disliked disappointing my teachers. Mrs. Arnold let out a sigh, "This isn't about the grade, well it is, but it's also about you. You seem very distracted lately."

"Things are a little crazy at home, currently, but I'm sure they'll calm down soon." I admitted with a small smile and trying to sound optimistic.

"I know being the Mayor's daughter comes with a lot of pressure, but you need to cut yourself some slack. You're a good student, and if you ever need anything, you know where to find me, huh?" Mrs. Arnold said, with a small smile herself. I nodded at her. I could tell the conversation was over, so I grabbed my backpack and started to leave. Before I could reach the door Mrs. Arnold said, "Oh, and Maddie, since that's your second exam with a poor grade, you'll need to have your mom sign it and bring it back, please."

"Of course." Was all I could manage to squeak out. I grabbed the door handle and quickly made my way to the courtyard for lunch.

* * *

As I sat down next to Ray she asked, "Where the heck have you been?" "Mrs. Arnold wanted to talk to me about my test," I replied back while pulling my lunch out of my bag. "Uh oh, did you fail another test?" Ray asked slightly louder than I cared for. Our friends Charlie and Derrick were just down from us, so they looked over at Ray's raised voice. "Lower your voice, will you?!" I harshly whispered back at her.

"Well?" She asked expectantly. I put down my sandwich. There was no point in trying to eat until Ray got her answers. "I didn't fail… I got a D- and have to have my mother sign it," I said nonchalantly back. I heard Ray let out a panicked, shocked, noise. "You realize you're dead, right?" She asked me seriously. I finally looked at her, "you don't think I know that? She's my mother, remember? And with Henry acting up so much recently she's been extra strict and grumpy, ugh!" I rambled back. "You mean bitchy?" Ray said, with a small laugh. I glared at her, but she was right. My mother was a little uptight and bordered between overly strict and bitchy most of the time. She had loving moments, but she was always seemed removed to a point, not necessarily cold, but also not the most welcoming.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Ray exclaimed. I looked at her, as she called down the table, "Charlie, Derrick want to come over after school?" Both guys looked at us. "Sure!" said Derrick as Charlie gave a thumbs up.

"Cool, we'll just hangout at my place and play games. Take your mind off your impending doom," Ray said with a smile. "I can't, I have to walk Henry home after school," I stated back. Ray huffed, and gave me puppy dog eyes, "Just text Henry to be home by 4:45pm and all will be good." I half laughed and replied, "why do you want me to come over so badly? It's just going to get me in even more trouble if my mother finds out, you know that."

"Come on, Mads! The boys are coming, we can make popcorn, watch a movie, play air hockey. Whatever you want!" Ray practically begged. I eyed her, as she continued, "I know things have been a little stressful at home with your mom and Henry. Plus, with this grade thing, I know you're extra stressed, since you're the queen of perfect grades… I just thought you might want to take you mind off things."

Ray was right. Home life had been extra frustrating. My mother was annoyed with Henry acting out, so her frustration meant she was extra strict with me. Meaning, everything I did needed to be perfect. My grades, my clothes, my chores. It was beyond exhausting and annoying. "Fine," I huffed back. "But I have to be home before my mom or I really am a dead person."

"Yes!", Ray exclaimed just as the lunch bell rang.

I got up and threw my uneaten lunch in the garbage. I pulled my phone out and shot Henry a text: " _I'm going to Ray's after school. You know the procedure. Do what you want. Just be safe and be home before mom."_ With that I just had to get through the rest of school and then I could go relax with my friends.

* * *

"What?! No way! You're cheating!" Yelled Derrick, as he flailed his arm across the air hockey table, missing the puck, again. It slowly started to glide back towards me. "No I'm not," I calmly stated as I slammed the puck back towards him and it flew straight into the goal. "Damnit!" He screamed. "Ha! 7-0! I win, again!" I exclaimed back with a wink. Derrick smiled at me and I smiled back.

It was no secret that we like each other, but we never seemed to get passed innocent flirting. "Okay, my turn against the champ!" Charlie called as he walked to Derrick's end. "Actually, I need a break. Here, you two play," I said sliding my paddle down to them. I walked over to the couch where Ray was watching from. I picked up my phone, and glass of water, as I plopped down next to her.

"You were right; this has been super fun." I said to Ray, as I took a drink. I click the home button on my phone and started choking on my water. "Shit!" I exclaimed in a panicked voice. "Ray! It's 5:45, why the hell didn't you warn me?" I yelled.

"Mads, I didn't notice, I'm really sorry!", she apologized back, but I didn't hear her. There were 5 missed calls from my mom and one text that read: " _Home. Now."_

I grabbed all my stuff as quickly as possible and ran out of the room without even saying goodbye. All I could think was, "I'm dead. She's physically going to kill me. This truly is the end."

I ran the 4 blocks to my house as quickly as I could, which is no easy feat when your backpack is crazy heavy. For once, I was thinking that Ray was right when she mocked me for carrying around too many books all the time. I may be on the track team, but I was struggling to sprint as fast as I could in the rain, home. I finally rounded the last corner, and got to our gate, out of breath. I walked to the front door and looked at the time. 6:07pm. "Yep, so dead. So very dead," is what I thought as I paused trying to calm down my breathing. As I was reaching for the door handle, the door suddenly flew open and there stood my mother, Regina Mills.

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 **Thanks for reading! I hoped you enjoyed the start of my story!**


	2. Pilot: Chapter 2

**Again, I do not own Once Upon a Time. Just the characters and parts I add in. A big thank you to those who left a review for chapter 1!**

 **Enjoy!**

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"Where the hell have you been and where is your brother?" My mom yelled louder than I'd ever heard. I stood in the doorway frozen. Her eyes were boring into me with concern and anger. I felt my mouth open and close a couple of times, before I finally stammered out, "H, Henry? I, I, I don't know where Henry is. Isn't he home?"

"Clearly not if I'm asking you, Madelyn." She snapped back. Suddenly, her hand fell away from the door handle and her shoulders dropped. "Wait, if he's not with you, then where is he?" Mom asked, in a slightly annoyed, quiet voice; more to herself than me. She abruptly turned away from me and walked back into the house. I stood in the doorway for a second longer, trying to wrap my head around what was happening. Finally, I walked in and closed the front door behind me.

As I placed my backpack on the ground, I could hear my mother's voice in the study. Walking in, I saw that she was on the phone. Talking with a worried tone, she said into the phone, "Graham, Henry's missing. Madelyn finally came home and he wasn't with her. I think he's run away." She nodded her head, and said, "okay. See you shortly."

Once she was off the phone she just stood there. "Mom, I'm sure we'll find him," I said trying to reassure her. Quickly, she spun to face me. "Where were you?" She demanded angrily, as she walked towards me. "If you had come straight home after school, we would have known he was missing hours ago!"

I felt myself tense, as she was suddenly standing right in front of me with her arms crossed, waiting for my response. I couldn't maintain eye contact. Looking down, I quietly I mumbled, "I went to Ray's."

"Excuse me", mom responded in a stern voice and continued, "you will look at me and you will answer me clearly, so I can hear you, Madelyn." I took a breath and looked up at her, "I went to Ray's after school to hang out with her, Charlie, and Derrick…" I paused trying to collect more courage, but I saw the anger spreading across her face. I tried to gulp down my fear and quickly I continued, "I texted Henry, telling him to come straight home but…"

"You told your ten-year-old brother to come home, alone, so you could go play with your friends? You are sixteen, young lady, he was your responsibility!" She yelled in an angry, disbelieving tone. I knew anything I said next would make her madder, so I just stood there. She walked away from me and started pacing. All I could do was watch her.

Abruptly, she stopped and looked at me. "Do you have any idea where he might be?" Mom asked in a gentler voice. I looked at her, and for the first time I could see the genuine fear and worry on her face. I shook my head.

"When did we get to this?" I wondered to myself. Our lives used to be so simple. Go to school, go to track, come home, eat dinner, repeat. Now, it was constant fighting. Henry always yelling at mom that "she wasn't his real mother" or that she's "evil" followed by her storming out of the room angrily. I can't even remember the last family dinner where it didn't end in fighting. Don't get me wrong, I adore Henry. He really is the best brother you could ask for, but I never thought he'd go as far as running away. At least, not without telling me first.

"Would you try calling him?"

I snapped back to reality and realized mom had asked me something. "Huh?" I said trying to pay attention to her. "Henry. Would you try calling his phone? Maybe he'll actually answer you." Mom said, sounding like she was trying to suppress her emotions. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and dialed Henry's number. I put the phone on speaker, but after half a ring we heard, "This is Henry's phone. Sorry I missed ya. Leave me a funny message." Mom turned away from me and started pacing, again.

A disappointed sigh escaped my lips and I said to his voicemail, "it's Maddie. Give me a call. I'm worried about you." After hanging up, I went back to watching my mom pace. I was about to try reassuring her again, when the doorbell suddenly rang. I was turning to go answer it, but mom flew past me to open it. Getting to the door of the study, I peered out and saw the Sheriff standing there. Mom looked slightly disappointed, but quickly composed herself. "Graham, thank you for coming. There still no word from him," she said as she started to get choked up. Graham grabbed her shoulders in a comforting manner and reassured her, "Regina, we will find him. He can't have gotten that far."

* * *

I was sent to my room after the Sheriff's arrival, with clear instructions to stay there until told otherwise. "Great, I'm a 3-year-old in time out," I thought to myself. I paced for a while, but heard my stomach growl. It was then that I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. However, the idea of trying to go back downstairs didn't seem worth it, even if I was starving. I decided to tackle my pre-calc homework in hopes that it would distract me from my hunger pains. I had nearly finished, when I saw a yellow bug pull up in front of the house. "Well this ought to be interesting," I sighed to myself, as I saw Henry get out of the car and start up the pathway, followed by some blonde woman.

I made my way to my bedroom door. Quietly as I could, I stepped into the hall and moved towards the banister. I heard my mom throw open the front door. "Henry?!... Henry, are you okay?! Where have you been? What happened…" Mom said in a relieved, but worried voice.

"I found my _REAL_ mom!", I heard Henry yell, followed by him running into the house.

Henry came running in and headed straight for the stairs. When he reached the landing he stopped momentarily when he saw me standing there. A big smile spread across his face, as he quickly walked towards me. "I have so much to tell you!" He eagerly whispered to me. "I found her Maddie! I found her!" He told me excitedly. We both looked back to see Graham coming up the stairs. "I'll tell you later!" He quickly whispered, as he continued running to his room and slammed the door.

I felt like my head was spinning. What the heck was happening? I hate surprises and could not process everything as quickly as it was occurring. I snapped out of my confused daze, when I realized Graham had walked past me, to Henry's door. He knocked, and opened the door a little. "Hey bud, you okay?" Graham asked. I heard Henry mumble something, as Graham walked further into the room.

It was at this time I heard the front door close, and realized my mother and the blonde were walking into the study. I was trying to decide who to spy on, when Graham walked back past me and whispered with a smile, "Henry's yours to question."

"Henry it is," I said to myself, as I headed down to his room. I knocked twice, and entered without waiting for a response. "I don't…" Henry started to yell at me. "Oh, you're not mom," he said relieved. "No, I'm not, but you'll have to face her at some point." I said without any sympathy. "Henry, what were you thinking? How did you even find that lady?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Emma. Her name is Emma Swan and she's my mom. I found her in Boston," Henry said, as if correcting me. Part of me was tempted to tell him that his mom's name was Regina, but that would just lead to a fight and I wanted answers.

"Whoa, wait… Boston?" I asked in disbelief. "How'd you get all the way there?"

"Easy, I took the bus," Henry stated matter-of-factly.

Great, my ten-year-old brother has had a more epic journey than me. All I could do was shake my head. "Okay, but how did you find the blo... Emma. How did you find Emma?" I questioned.

"Well… I… Ummm... Actually, Maddie, I can't tell you how. The less you know, the safer it'll for both of us," Henry replied with a mischievous smile. "Henry", I groaned. "You're going to be in so much trouble…"

"You can say that again," came my mom's sharp voice from behind me. The smile quickly faded from Henry's face and I whipped around. "If I remember correctly, you're supposed to be in your room, grounded." Mom said to me with a raised eyebrow. I saw Henry look at the two of us with a confused, furrowed brow. "You technically haven't grounded me, yet." I snapped back.

The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. I felt my eyes widen in surprise, as mom just gave me a hard, unimpressed look. I ducked my head and started out of the room. "I'll be in to deal with you momentarily," mom commented, as she turned her attention back to Henry. "Goody," I grumbled to myself.

I quickly dashed down the hall into my room, closed my door, and dived onto my bed. I climbed to the wall that Henry and I share and pressed my ear against it, as tightly as I could. At first, it was silent. Then I heard my mom give an exasperated sigh and say, "Henry, do you realize how dangerous today could have been for you?" There was no response from him, so I heard her continue, "Henry, what is going on? How on earth did you find that woman?"

My mom sounded frustrated. Still no response from Henry. "Fine, don't talk to me, I'm just glad you're home safe. I really do love you Henry," she stated simply. Still nothing from Henry.

Where was the yelling? The kid ran away to Boston, to find his birth mom, and seriously, no yelling? Suddenly, I heard someone clearing their throat behind me. I pried my face from the wall and snapped my head towards my door. My mother was staring at me with a disapproving look. Apparently I was to wrapped up in my thoughts, and missed her leaving Henry's room. I felt the guilty look spread across my face, and waited for her to speak. "Downstairs, now." She said flatly and walked out. I scrambled off my bed and followed her down into the kitchen. She was behind the counter and pointed to the bar stool opposite her. I let out a small breath and sat down.

She gave me a stern look and then turned away from me. I cocked my head in confusion as she walked over to the wine cupboard, grabbed a glass and a bottle, and filled the glass to the very top with red wine. She took a couple gulps and then walked back to me. Once she was in front of me, she took one more, large, gulp of wine and place her glass on the counter. She finally looked at me and held out her hand. "Phone," she said expectantly.

"It's up in my room." I replied quietly. "Fine, go get it and your laptop." She said without any room for argument. I quickly ran to retrieve said objects.

As I was walking back down, I saw that I had a bunch of worried texts from Ray and Derrick. I weighed the price of trying to respond to them. I paused momentarily on the stairs and quickly sent a group message, to both of them saying: " _Still alive. See you tomorrow."_

I held down the power button and my phone shut-off, just as I entered back into the kitchen. I handed the devices over to her and a sat back down. She walked into her study, and I knew that meant they were being locked in her desk. As she entered back into the kitchen, she gave me a hard look. "I'm not in the mood to argue Madelyn. You're ground for two weeks. When I ask you to do something you're to do it. Understood?" She asked in a serious voice. I nodded my head. She started to raise an eyebrow, so I quickly replied, "understood."

My mom picked up her wine and started out of the kitchen. I sat there for a second and then heard myself saying, "mom." She stopped, clearly trying to decide if she really wanted to hear what I had to say. Finally, she turned around and looked at me. "I'm sorry… for all of this," I said waving my hands around indicating I meant everything that had been going on. I felt my eyes starting to moisten, as I realized just how painful and hard today had to of been for her. "I'm sorry I worried you." I let out a small, shaky, sigh and continued, "I'm sorry I abused your trust and I'm sorry Henry ran away to find that woman. I know you're just trying to do your best..."

She gave me a sad look, but she quickly changed it to one that was void of any emotion. She shook her head slightly and softly said, "it's almost 11. Head upstairs and get ready for bed." I didn't have the heart to ask about food, so I got down from the stool and started to my room. As I was about to walk past her, she gently grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her, placing a kiss on my temple. I turned from the kiss and hugged her tightly. She wrapped the arm not hold the wine around me and hugged me back briefly. She then patted my butt and said, "bed". I headed up the stairs and watched as she retreated into her study.

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 **I haven't quite finished the next chapter, so it'll definitely take me longer to post again. I haven't decide if I want to break the rest of the first episode into one or two more chapters. Also, you might be wondering why there haven't been flash backs... I tried to type one and I really didn't like it. I might try to add some in as I go. We'll see.**

 **I hope you enjoyed chapter 2. Cheers! :o)**


	3. Pilot: Chapter 3

**Writing is way more fun than being productive, so here is the next chapter. Hopefully it'll answer some questions. Thanks for the reviews!**

 ***I tried to post this last night but my computer was being special and not loading. My apologies if some you got notifications for it, and then I took it down.**

* * *

 _Enchanted Forest:_

 _Regina had been looking for her daughter for over an hour now. The tutor had informed her that Elizabeth failed to show for her studies, again. Regina, let out a frustrated sigh. Why couldn't her child just do as she was supposed to. Suddenly, she heard giggling coming up the corridor. "About time," Regina thought, as she made her way to find her six-year-old._

 _"I really thought we would find one, Mary." Elizabeth said sadly. "Miss, I really think you should be a little more quiet," the young hand maid suggested, while looking around nervously. "It's fine," the younger girl replied. "We're not going to get in trouble," Elizabeth said, with a giggle._

 _"You might want to rethink that." Regina said, sternly, as she came around the corner and stopped in front of the young girls, crossing her arms. Regina saw the hand maid's eyes open wide in fear. The girl couldn't have been more than ten and she looked absolutely terrified to have been caught. Regina's eyes then traveled to her daughter. Elizabeth stood in front of her mother with a mischievous smile on her face. "Do I even want to know what you were doing?" Regina questioned, as she took in the sight of her six-year-old. Elizabeth was covered head to toe in dirt, with twigs and leaves caught throughout her dark brown hair. Her dress torn in several places._

 _"Hi Mumsie!" The younger child said with a sweet smile, while twirling the hem of her dress innocently. "Oh no. Don't 'Mumsie' me. That's not going to work, Elizabeth." Regina said as she uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. "You missed your lessons, yet again. That's two days in a row." She reprimanded._

 _"But mommy, I was looking for something that's much more important!" Elizabeth exclaimed, quickly dropping the sweet innocent tone she had been using and changing to a more serious one. The young girl, too, place her hands on her hips and Regina could tell she was preparing to defend herself. "Oh really? And what was so important?" Regina questioned, slightly amused._

 _"We were trying to find fairies." The small girl explained, with a serious face. "I heard one of the kids in the courtyard talking about them and I wanted to see one for myself. The boy wouldn't tell me where they were at, so we had to search_ _everywhere_ _!" The young girl emphasized the last word by moving her hands in a circular motion, but then placed them promptly back on her hips._

 _"Wait, did you leave the palace grounds?" Regina questioned, anger seeping into her voice. The hand maid was visibly shaking next to Elizabeth, but the small child simply looked up at her mother. "Mommy, fairies aren't going to be in the courtyard." The girl stated matter-of-factly. "Watch how you speak to me," Regina scolded. The younger girl looked unfazed so Regina squatted down to be eye level with her daughter. She grabbed both of the girl's hands and pulled her right up in front of her. Elizabeth held eye contact with Regina, her grey eyes boring into her mother's dark brown. The young girl knew she was in trouble, a lot of trouble, but she wasn't scared._

 _"You know better than to leave the grounds unattended, Elizabeth." Regina chastised. "Mommy," the girl huffed. "That's why I took Mary with me." Elizabeth explained as if this justified everything, her voice annoyed and full of attitude._ _Regina raised an eyebrow at her daughter. She finally saw a little worry creep into the younger girl's eyes, but also felt her tense her muscles, ready to keep arguing with her mother._

 _"An adult, Elizabeth," Regina clarified. "You know the rules. You need to ask permission to leave the castle." Regina was clearly frustrated with the child. "You shouldn't have even been in the courtyard, let alone, running throughout the country side." Regina said as the young girl squirm in her hands, trying to break her mother's grasp. Regina tightened her hold and made Elizabeth look at her._

 _"We were in the forest! and besides, I would have just been told 'no' if I had tired.." Elizabeth started to defend her actions, but her mother quickly cut her off. "You could have been hurt, or worse, taken by someone!" Regina said with anger and worry in her voice. "You left the grounds knowing it was wrong! Just because you knew you'd be told no, doesn't mean you just go and do it!" Regina fiercely stated, while also addressing her daughter's horrible justification for not asking permission._

 _Elizabeth squirmed again and started to purse her lips, taking on a spitting image of her mother, clearly planning her next move. Regina let go of her daughter's hands and grabbed the side of her arms. Regina repositioned the younger girl so that she was even closer, their faces just centimeters apart. "Oww, Mommy you're hurting me!" Elizabeth whined. "Then stop moving and listen. Now!" Regina snapped without room for argument. Elizabeth froze, realizing her mother indeed was angry at her and she wasn't going to be able to talk her way out of this one._

 _Regina looked to the hand maid. The poor girl still looked terrified and worried. Regina softened her voice and said to the older girl, "run along. I know none of this was your doing." The maid didn't need to be told twice. She quickly scampered down the corridor, and out of sight, without a sound. Regina looked back to her daughter._

 _"No riding lessons for a week," the young girl's eyes widened in shock, but Regina continued, "You will_ _not_ _be attending the ball_ _tomorrow_ _night, and your studies will be with me for the time being. Is that clear?" Regina demanded as more of a statement, rather than a question. "Mommy! The little girl gasped, "You can't do that! I, I…" The child was visibly upset and fumbling over her words. "You don't even know how to teach!" the six-year-old argued._

 _"Excuse me?" Regina responded, clearly unimpressed. "You're not a teacher, just a mommy!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She was quickly making her situation worse and went to continue, but Regina had had enough. "That's it! Two weeks no riding, and I promise you, you're going to wish I was just a mommy." Regina said, clearly done arguing with the young girl._

 _Elizabeth suddenly looked at her mother horrified, not at her mother's words, but by her realization. "Wait, but_ _tonight_ _is when father returns!_ _Tomorrow_ _is the ball to welcome him home! Mommy, I have to be there!" Elizabeth stressed. "You should have thought of that, before disobeying the rules. I'm tired of you thinking you can come and go as you please, young lady. You are a child._ _Not_ _an adult." Regina emphasized and continued, "you_ _will not_ _be attending the ball_ _tomorrow_ _night. I can guarantee you, that once your father hears of your behavior, he'll agree with me. Especially, when hears that you left the grounds, and that you're behind on your studies." Regina said, knowing that the young girl would try to sweet talk her father into getting her out of trouble. Elizabeth had opened her mouth the argue back, but quickly shut it after Regina's last comment. "We are done discussing this." Regina stated as she stood back up. "You need to get cleaned up, and then we are starting your studies." Regina informed her daughter._

 _Elizabeth let out an annoyed sigh, but turned to head to her chambers. "Oh no, you're not leaving my sight. You can't be trusted to do what's asked of you. Let's go." Regina said, as she grabbed the young girls hand and started to her own chambers. Elizabeth willingly went along with her mother, already busy planning all the ways she could sneak down to the ball_ _tomorrow_ _night. The argument obviously having no real impact on the girl._

* * *

Storybrooke:

The next morning my head was pounding, as I was trying to get ready for school. There was no way I was going to make it through the day if I didn't take something. As I was rummaging through the cupboards and drawers, looking for medicine, my mother appeared in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Have you seen you brother?" she demanded. I gave a small laugh and said, "well, this seems like Déjà vu." "This isn't a joke, Madelyn," mom said in a tired voice. I stopped my search and looked up at her. Clearing my throat, I said, "Sorry, no. I haven't seen him this morning."

"I knew I shouldn't have let that boy out of my sight," my mom stated, turning to leave. Following her, I stopped at the bathroom doorway and asked, "Hey mom, do you have any ibuprofen?" I leaned against the door frame as my mom stopped at the top of the stairs. She looked back at me. "Why? Are you not feeling well?" She questioned, in a somewhat worried voice. "I'm okay, I just woke up with a headache." I said hoping she wouldn't make a big deal of it.

I watched as my mother walked up to me, and placed her hand on my forehead. She started moving it around my face, feeling for a fever. Shaking my head, I back up and in an annoyed voice, I whined, "Mother, stop. I'm fine." My mom dropped her hand and eyed me. I raised my eyebrows, holding her gaze. "Really." I said, assuring her with a small smile.

Finally, she sighed and said, "there should be some in my bathroom. No taking more than two."

With that, she turned to leave. As she was walking down the stairs, my mother called back, "I'm heading to the sheriff's station. Make sure you go to school." I managed to stop myself, as a snappy comment almost escaped my lips. "What are you doing?" I thought. I was never sassy with my mom. I yelled to my mom, "I will! Love you."

The front door open and closed, so I headed in search of ibuprofen. As I was crossing my mother's bedroom, something on her dresser caught my eye. I looked over, but all I saw was her jewelry, perfume, and the pictures of us that were always there. Nothing out of the ordinary. "Mads, you're losing it," I thought as I continued on to the bathroom.

* * *

I was thinking about Henry, as I was walking to school. I knew where he was, well most likely, but my mom didn't ask me that. She simply asked if I had seen him.

"Mads, wait up!" I heard Ray calling from behind me. I slowed down my pace as she ran up next to me. "So your mom was pretty pissed, huh?" She questioned. "You could say that again. Last night was a mess" I responded. Ray gave me an understanding look, "How long you grounded for?"

"two weeks." I groaned. "The messed up thing is that Henry didn't even get in trouble!" I continued.

"Huh?" Ray stopped walking and looked at me. "I'm confused, Mads. What does Henry have to do with you getting home late and failing history?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. "I didn't get my test signed," I said with realization. "Back up. What happened last night?" Ray asked giving me a concerned, questioning look.

"Coffee, I need Coffee," was my only response as I turned to head to Granny's. "…But what about school?" Ray called after me. "Mr. Noll never takes role first period. No one will notice," I yelled back. I heard Ray grumbling behind me and then heard her feet slapping the pavement, as she ran to catch up to me.

We walked the rest of the way to Granny's in silence. Entering, my mind was going a hundred miles an hour, and I felt my headache getting worse. We walked to a booth, and plopped down. Ruby came over and asked for our orders. I ordered a black coffee and Ray asked for tea.

"You know your mom will get upset if she finds out you're drinking coffee," Ray stated. I let out a humorless laugh, "me drinking coffee is the least of her problems." Ray gave me a puzzled look.

After Ruby brought over our drinks, Ray squared herself in front of me and said, "So, you going to fill me in or just leave me over here very confused?" I took a sip of my coffee and let out a long sigh. "Alright," I said and proceed to give her a recap of the evening.

"So let me see if I have this straight – Henry ran away and didn't get in any trouble, but you did for simply getting home late?" Ray questioned. I nodded and she proceeded to ask, "Then he turned around and ran away again this morning?"

"Yeah, it's totally stupid", I growled.

"I really don't get your mom lately. She's strict, but she's usually fair about it." Ray said. "Yeah… I think she's being harder on me because she doesn't know what to do with Henry anymore, and well... I am older." I said as if that justified everything. Ray rolled her eyes at me, "You know it's normal to be mad at your parent, right? You don't always have to defend your mom." I decided not to respond and drank my coffee.

"I think Henry has a death wish. Don't take this the wrong way, but your mom is terrifying. I mean, I'm scared to even sneeze in the same room as her, because I feel like she'll ground me, and she's not even my mom!" Ray exclaimed. I gave her a disapproving look in return. "Hey, I'm just saying." Ray said, putting her hands up as she defended herself.

I could feel my body tensing. I was tired, frustrated, and done. Done with the drama. "This whole thing is beyond crazy. Everything was fine until Henry caused this whole mess. It's his fault, and yet, I'm the only one that's ever gets in trouble, and it's usually for some stupid reason!" The words were leaving my mouth faster than I could stop them. It felt good to voice my frustrations for once.

We both sat silently for a second. "So he really found his birth mom?" Ray asked softly. I could hear the curiosity in her voice. I didn't blame her; it was intriguing to think about. "I guess." I said with a shrug.

"Well?" Ray asked curiously. "Well, what?", I replied back. "Come on, Mads! What'd she look like?" Ray begged for details.

"I only saw her from a distance. She had long blonde hair, wore a nice, red, leather jacket, and drove a yellow bug." I said trying to make it clear that I didn't want to talk about this. Ray started laughing and I quickly glanced back to her. "And what do you find so funny about that?" I snapped. "Calm down" Ray said between snorts. "I'm just picturing your mom's reaction to this. The lady drives a yellow bug?! Come on, I can only imagine the unimpressed look your mom gave this gal!" Ray kept giggling at her own thoughts. It might have been more funny had my head not felt as if it was going to explode.

Once Ray had calm down, she looked at me again. "Okay, sore topic. Got it. So what are you gonna do about the test?" She asked. My eyes dropped to my backpack. I reached over, zipped it open, and pulled the test out. "I keep forgetting about this dang thing." I replied back. "Well, if you tell Mrs. Arnold that it's not signed, she'll call your mom to discuss your grade." Ray stated, sympathetically. I looked up at her. "What? She wouldn't?" I questioned, hoping she was just kidding. Ray gave me a tight smile and nodded her head, causing looked back down at the test with dread.

I made a hasty decision, and as I pulled a black pen out of my backpack, Ray said, "Uh, you're not about to do, what I think you're about to do, are you?" I didn't answer her. I was busy trying to visualize my mom's signature in my head. The nice thing about her being the Mayor is that her signature is on everything. Taking a couple deep breaths I steady my hand and signed Regina Mills at the bottom of my test. "Dang, that looks pretty legit." Ray said impressed. I looked up at her, as she gave me a big smile. "What now?" I pressed.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" Ray said jokingly. I have her an annoyed look, indicating that she should continue. "Maddie, you're perfect. Or the closest thing to perfect that I know. You're like the dream child. You never break the rules, except to occasionally come over to my house after school. And we both know that takes a lot of begging on my part." My eye's rolled, once more, as she kept speaking, "normally you get straight A's. You're a teenager that basically never lies or talks back." She let out a chuckle. "But, here you are skipping class, forging a signature on a failed test, and lying." Smirking at me she said, "I like reckless, Mads."

I felt a smile on my own lips, but I rolled my eyes at her and said, "let's go. It's almost time for 2nd period." I shoved the test in my backpack and chugged down the rest of my coffee. "Please just let this day end quickly," I thought as we headed to school.

* * *

 **Until next time, folks. :o)**


	4. Pilot: Chapter 4

**Enjoy! :o)**

* * *

"You do know that I'm the one that's supposed to be skipping school, right?" I said to Henry, as I plopped next to him on his window seat. He smiled at me. "I'm the teenager, not you" I said, giving him a light shove.

He gave me a shrug and went back to looking out the window. I looked around his room. It very much belonged to a ten-year-old boy. I continued looking around until my eyes landed on a picture of all three of us; my mom, Henry, and I. The picture made me smile. In it, Mom and I were kissing Henry's cheeks, as he made a silly face.

Slowly, the smile left my face and I started to feel guilty at how mad I'd been at Henry lately. I looked from the picture to Henry, and back. I was the spitting image of my mom, except for our eyes, and, well, I'm shorter. Nevertheless, she's my mom, my blood. I've never questioned that, but Henry was constantly reminded that he was adopted. I can't begin to image what that must feel like, to wonder where you came from, who you were related to? Sure, my dad wasn't in the picture, but as far as I knew, he sounded like a sleaze that we didn't need around.

I looked back to Henry. "Tell me about Emma," I prompted. He eyed me, trying to figure out my angle. "Did mom put you up to this?"He asked suspiciously.

I let out a small laugh. "No." I paused, trying to figure out what I wanted to say next. "Henry, I'm sorry I didn't take you more seriously, before. You may be my little brother, but you've always been my best friend. You got that book from Mrs. Blanchard, and I'll be honest, you sound pretty out there with these fairy tale conspiracies..."

A hurt look spread across his face, but I continued, "However, clearly, you feel very strongly about all of this. You found your birth mom and brought her back here... Dude, you're ten and have made more strides to figure things out than most adults!" I said, in a teasing voice.

I turned so that I was sitting crossed legged on the window seat, fully facing him. Folding my hands in my lap, I gave him my full attention. "Talk to me, fill me in. What's she like?"

Henry's face broke out into a huge smile as he turned his body to sit cross legged on the window seat, copying me. "She's the exact opposite of you." He teased. I cocked my head, and looked at him curiously. "She's fun." he explained.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, smacking his arm. He started to laugh, and so did I.

"I don't know much about her, yet, other than what I know from the book and the little time I've spent with, but I like her. I really like her. Plus, she'll totally break the curse." he said in a very optimistic voice. It took a lot of will power for me not to roll my eyes, but I kept an attentive face and I let him talk.

Henry proceeded to fill me in on everything. Getting to Boston, finding Emma, driving back with her, telling her about the book. All of it. Once he was done he gave me a curious look, wondering what I would say. There was one part of the story he'd left out. "So, you really stole your teacher's credit card?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"First, _please_ don't give me that look. You look like mom and it's scary. That look makes my skin crawl." he stated in a serious voice with a slight shudder. I just rolled my eyes. "Second, how'd you know about that?" He questioned.

"Mom was at school today, looking for you I guess. I saw her and Emma barge down to Miss Blanchard's classroom, so I kinda spied. Mom wasn't exactly quiet during the visit." I said, shrugging.

A guilty look spread over his face. "I'm not here to lecture you, just making sure I have all the details." I reassured him, smiling.

We chatted a little longer, but fell into a comfortable silence as we looked back out the window. Slowly, Henry turned to me, again. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble." He said apologetically. "I know mom has been pretty hard on you, because of me." He looked down.

"Hey," I lifted his chin to look at me. "I can handle mom, and it is partially my fault," I tried to reassure him. Henry gave me a skeptical look, clearly not believing me. I didn't really believe myself, but I was the big sister. I need to keep his spirts up.

"Ummm, Henry… Could I maybe read the book?" I asked, the idea suddenly popping into my head.

Since he had gotten the book, I'd refused to even listen to him talk about it, let alone look at it. He gave me a bummed look. "Mom, confiscated it… Why do you want it?"

"Just want to better understand it, well, you…" I said standing up. "Let me know when you get it back, slash - steal it back." I continued, giving him a knowing smile. "I'm off to do homework." I told him, heading out of the room.

As I got to the door, Henry's voice came from behind me, "Maddie?" I stopped and looked back.

"Thanks for being my sister and for trying to understand." I simply nodded and headed out of the room.

* * *

As I walked into my own room, I looked around. My eyes landed on my backpack sitting by my desk, causing my mind to flash back to this afternoon-

 _The bell rang, signaling lunch. I saw Mrs. Arnold head to her desk, but she turned looking for me. Sighing, I took the test out of my backpack, walked to her desk, and handed it over. She scanned the document, her eyes landing on the signature at the bottom._

 _Looking up, she gave me a small smile. "How much trouble did I get you in?" She questioned._

" _I'm grounded, two weeks." I said, shrugging. At least it wasn't a complete lie. Mrs. Arnold handed me the test back. "Here, I have something for you." She said, as she opened a desk drawer. Mrs. Arnold pulled out a file and handed it to me. Opening it, I saw some worksheets and other papers. I looked up at her, confused._

" _Extra Credit," she explained. "You finish those, do well on your history paper, and ace the final, you can still get up to a B+ in the class. I know it's not the A you're accustomed to getting, but…"_

 _I gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Mrs. Arnold. I really appreciate all that you've done for me." I said as genuinely as I could. Tucking the folder into my backpack, I gave her one last smile and left._

I let out a long breath as my mind shifted back to the present. I walked over to my backpack and pulled my test out. There was the D-, still at the top, and my mother's name still at the bottom, where I had forged it that morning.

I thought back to what Ray had said to me earlier, in the diner. Was this who I wanted to be? Reckless, always lying, and sneaking around? Sure, I'd joked with Henry about being a teenager, but the truth of the matter was that I didn't like it. I like to follow rules. I like having straight A's. I like doing what is expected of me. Sneaking around and doing things that'll get me in trouble... That simply wasn't me.

I got up, with the test still in my hand, and looked to my door, then back at the test. I let out a frustrated sigh and headed out of my room.

Looking down, I could see my mother's door open, so taking a deep breath, I walked down the hall and peered in. I didn't see her, but could hear noise coming from her bathroom. While knocking a couple of times, I called, "Mom?"

Her head appeared from the bathroom, "Yes, dear?"

"Do you have a second to talk?" I asked. She came out of the bathroom in her pajamas, while rubbing her hands together, like she had just put on lotion. Mom walked to her bed and sat on the edge, while raising an eyebrow, prompting me to talk.

"I see what Henry meant about the look." I thought, as goosebumps formed on my arms. I shook the thought away and approached her, shaking slightly, as guilt and fear surged through my body.

I let out another small, shaky breath. Not being able to think of something to say, I simply handed her the test. My mom gave me a confused look, but took the paper and looked it over. I could see the gears turning in her head, as she was trying to process the document in front of her.

"Huh, I don't remember signing this, Madelyn." She said, clearly indicating that I should explain.

"That's because you didn't." I answered and looked down at the floor. "Care to explain?" She demanded, as she put the paper down next to her and crossed her arms.

Letting out a breath, I looked back up at her. "I'm not doing so well in History..." I really wanted to look back down at the floor, but knew better. However, her brown eyes were locked on to mine, making it hard to talk.

"I, I…"

I stopped and took another deep breath, "I got a D on the first test… I didn't really study for it like I should have. It was totally my fault, but I figured I could fix it if I did well on this one. But, uh, I… I obviously did worse, so, Mrs. Arnold told me you needed to sign it." I stumbled over the words as they rushed out of my mouth.

"That doesn't explain how my signature got on the bottom." She said, while giving me a hard look. I could feel and hear my heart pounding in my ears.

"We got the tests back yesterday and I honestly forgot about it last night because of our eventful evening," I said, somewhat jokingly. Mom's eyes widened and her lips started to purse out.

"Bad choice." I lectured to myself, so I quickly continued, "I didn't remember it until Ray mentioned it this morning… The next thing I know, I'm pulling out a pen at Granny's and signed your name." I finished, relieved I'd gotten the truth out.

My mom's face hardened as I saw eyes start to blaze. "Granny's?" She inquired, almost as if to test what I would say next.

I felt my mouth drop open, but I couldn't speak. "Really? Really, Maddie?! Good work, dumb ass." I thought to myself.

"Madelyn?" My mom pressed.

Part of me wanted to come up with a lie. It was like my brain was yelling at me, telling me to shut up. Telling me that I was an idiot for doing this. I looked at my mom, her eye were like daggers, piercing into my own.

Suddenly, it was like my brain clouded over and I heard myself say, "I sorta skipped first period to go to Granny's. I really did forget about the test, and when Ray mentioned it, I didn't know what to do and needed time to think. I also drank coffee, even though I know you don't like it when I do." My voice was laced with guilt, but at this point, it was like I couldn't keep anything in. I had to get it all out. Tell her the truth, no matter how upset she would be.

At some point during my verbal vomit, I had broken eye contact and was staring at the floor again. After a few more seconds of silence, I finally looked up at her. My mom's face was like a stone, impossible to read.

Finally, she patted the bed next to her so I sat. I tensed myself, ready for my punishment. "Why are you telling me this?" My mom questioned, genuine curiosity in her voice.

I felt my face contort in confusion, unprepared for the question, but I thought about it for a second and gave a small shrug. "I want you to trust me. I want to be a good kid, a good person. The last few days, it's felt like this other person has taken over me. Like, I'm acting and speaking, before I can think it through or stop myself..." I tried to explain as I saw a strange look cross my mom's face.

"…Mrs. Arnold offered me extra credit today," I continued. "I can't get an A in the class, but I can bring my grade up. I was thinking about that, and I realized that I needed to come clean. You might not believe this, but I hate lying to you… I just want to make you proud, but I can't do that if I lie, go behind your back, and become this person I don't recognize. Plus, the guilt was eating at me. The longer I held it in, the stronger the pull was to come tell you…" I realized I was rambling, so I faded out and waited for her to respond.

It felt like forever, when finally, mom grabbed my hands with both of hers, and pulled them into her lap. "This household has been a little crazy, huh?" She asked, with a small smile. I was surprised, this wasn't how I expected her to respond.

"Thank you for being honest with me. This is the daughter I know and can trust." I had been looking at her, but felt my eyes drop. She reached out and lifted my chin, making me look at her again.

"I haven't been fair to you and I'm sorry for that." She said, sounding sincere.

What was this? My mom apologizing?

"Henry isn't your reasonability. I was wrong to yell at you like I did last night. I'm the mom, not you." She said in a gentle voice. "Tell you what, you're already grounded for two weeks, correct?"

I gave a nod as she continued, "We'll leave it at that for now." I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise.

"Oh, don't take this to mean I'm not upset. You shouldn't have forged my signature, and I _will _ be calling Mrs. Arnold to discuss this," she emphasized. "But, you came clean and I'm just proud that you chose to come tell me, instead of continuing to lie."

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. My mom stood up from the bed and looked at me, "No more lying or sneaking around, deal?" She questioned.

"I promise." I said and I meant it. I was done miss behaving, being some kid I didn't recognize. I, too, stood up. "Would it be alright if I got some more Ibuprofen?" I asked, as mom headed back towards her bathroom.

"You still have a headache?" She turned, looking worried.

"A little, but it actually feels much better. I think the guilt was partially behind it." I said with a small, remorseful smile. "I just figured if I took some more medicine and headed to bed, I'd be good to go." Mom gave me a knowing look, but retrieved the Ibuprofen.

As I laid in bed, I felt myself smiling. My headache was nearly gone and the events from the last few days were starting to fade away. The issues with Henry were beyond my control, but everything else was back on track. I was optimistic I was going to get a good night sleep, and be able to start again tomorrow.

Honestly, I felt like everything was on its way back to normal.

* * *

 **I'm curious to see what y'alls comments will be to this one. Obviously, this finishes out the Pilot, so I'll start working on the next episode. I know it seems like Regina is being soft, but…. ;o)**


	5. The Thing You Love Most: Chapter 1

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Enchanted Forest:_

" _She's not in her room, my dear." Henry informed his daughter, walking into her sitting chambers._

 _Regina looked up, the annoyance visible on her face. She had had enough of her daughter running amuck. She was clearly contemplating something – "Why do you have that look?" Henry questioned, worry in his voice._

 _A wicked smile spread across Regina's lips, as she stood up from her lounge chair. "If my teenage daughter wants to continue to play games, then I'm just going to have to step up my game." Regina stated, as a locket appeared in her hand._

" _What are you going to do with that?" Henry questioned, the concern now evident on his face._

" _It's for my darling, daughter." Sarcasm laced Regina's voice, as Cora's magic book appeared in her hands._

" _Regina…" Henry tried to caution his daughter._

" _Hush, Daddy. I know what I'm doing." Regina countered back._

 _Regina ripped through the pages of the book until she found what she wanted. A smile spread across her face as she placed the locket on her vanity, held the book in both hands, and blew on the pages, towards the locket. The necklace shined a bright purple color and quickly returned to normal._

 _Regina picked it up and examined the locket, the evil smile returning to her lips. "Perfect," she whispered to herself as she walked out of the room._

 _Henry stood in the same spot; a worried look still on his face, as he shook his head at his daughter walking away down the corridor. He knew that whatever she had planned was not going to be in the best interest of his granddaughter._

* * *

" _Ouch!" Elizabeth hissed through clenched teeth. She'd accidently smashed her knee on a table, trying to walk across her room, in the dark._

" _You should really try using a light." Came her mother's voice from somewhere in the bedroom. Elizabeth froze, as fire suddenly appeared in her fireplace and all the candles within her room were alit. Her eyes finally landed on her mother. Regina was sitting on Elizabeth's bed, with an unreadable look on her face._

" _Mother," the girl stated simply._

" _What, no Mumsie or Mommy-dear? No trying to butter me up?" Regina question, in an amused, but humorless voice._

" _What do you want?" The girl snapped, clearly not interested in what her mother had to say._

" _Watch your tone, Elizabeth. I'm you mother." Regina snapped back, getting up off the bed._

 _Elizabeth let out a laugh through her nose, her gray eyes holding her mother's brown. She was shorter than Regina by a few inches, but she wasn't scared. "Just because you call yourself my mother, doesn't mean you are. Blood means nothing." Elizabeth argued, ready for whatever Regina threw at her._

 _Shock was evident in Regina's eyes, but it was quickly replaced with anger. "Excuse me!" Regina hissed at the girl._

 _Anger was burning through Elizabeth's veins and she was ready to fight the woman in front of her. "Just because you gave birth to me, doesn't make you my mom. I don't want a monster for a mother." Elizabeth snarled at Regina, as Regina's eye narrowed at her daughter._

" _I saw the innocent people_ _you_ _murdered," Elizabeth continued. She saw her mother stiffen slightly, surprise on her face._

" _I told you not to leave the grounds." Regina defended back. "How did you get out?" She questioned the girl._

 _Elizabeth let out an exasperated sigh, "Really, that's where you're taking this?..." Regina held her ground, her arms crossed, waiting for her daughter to continue._

" _Fine! Once I realized you'd used magic to hold me in here, I used my own to get me out. You should know by now that I can, and will, always find away to get out. You can't stop me, mother; especially now that I know the truth. You're a monster!" The girl repeated, turning away from her mother and walking over to her armoire._

" _Just what do you think you're doing?" Regina demanded, as she saw her daughter start to fill a ruckus sack._

" _Leaving. Leaving, and never coming back." Elizabeth said, continuing to walk around her room, grabbing positions._

 _Suddenly, she couldn't move her body. Elizabeth quickly realized her mother was using magic on her, as Regina turned the girl to face her. "And just where are you going? You have nowhere to run." Regina, responded, trying to make the girl feel hopeless._

" _I'm going to find Snow." Elizabeth stated, a smile forming on her face, as she saw her mother's eyes suddenly blaze with anger and a snarl forming on her lips. "I'm going to find my sister," girl said, he voice full of confidence._

 _Regina had had enough. "The hell you are!" She snarled at the girl._

" _Oh, and you're going to stop me?" Elizabeth pushed back. "You have no power over me, mother. You can put up as many barriers as you want, I will always find a way around them." The girl growled, trying to break her mother's magical hold on her._

" _We'll see about that." Regina said as a locket appeared in her hand._

" _What are you doing?" Elizabeth tried to demand, but fear had crept into her voice._

" _Binding your magic and giving you a change of attitude," Regina said, an evil smile spreading across her face, as fear and shock appeared on Elizabeth's own face._

" _So, this is what it's come too? Using magic on your own child?" Elizabeth questioned, in a softer, sadden voice._

 _Regina had taken a step towards her daughter, but paused at these words, eyeing her daughter._

 _Elizabeth took her mother's hesitancy as an opportunity to keep talking. "Take my powers, that's not going to stop me." The girl snarled, the fear quickly wiped from her voice._

" _I'll never willingly be your child, just remember that. My hate for you is your own doing, but if you stop, stop being evil, maybe that could change?" Elizabeth said, clearly a last ditch effort to stop her mother from carrying out her plan._

 _Regina had her own doubts in her head, but she shook them out as she faced her daughter. Regina waved her hand and the locket appeared around Elizabeth's neck. "It's for your own good, my love." She whispered to herself, as Elizabeth's eyes glazed over._

 _Regina released the girl from the magical bind she had her in. She watched her daughter stumble, and quickly walked over to grab Elizabeth's arm, to help brace her._

 _Elizabeth looked around, a confused expression on her face. "Mother?" She questioned as she continued to try to hold herself up, "Mother, what happened?"_

" _My dear, you don't remember?" Regina asked; fake worry plastered in her voice._

 _Elizabeth thought for a moment. "No," she finally whispered._

" _I heard you get out bed, and I came to check on you. Let's get you back to bed; you must be coming down with something," Regina said, guiding the girl to her bed and using magic to change her out of her dress, and into a nightgown. Elizabeth was too dazed to even notice and swayed slightly, as Regina prepped the bed._

" _I think you're right, my head feels funny," Elizabeth said, crawling under the blankets Regina had pulled back for her._

" _Rest, my love; I'm sure you'll feel better by morning." Regina cooed, placing a kiss to her daughter's forehead and using magic to put out all the candles and fireplace. Her mother's words were like magic. Elizabeth felt her eyes slide shut and she drifted off into a deep slumber._

* * *

" _What did you do?"_

 _Regina jumped slightly, surprised by her father's voice, as she'd just proofed back to her own room._

" _Daddy, don't startle me!" Regina snapped; as she walked over to her vanity and plopped down on her chair, stress evident on her face._

" _Regina, what did you do to Elizabeth?" Her father sternly questioned, again._

" _She's fine; you can go see for yourself!" She said, exasperated. Henry's sad eyes just looked at his daughter, but he didn't move._

" _Fine." Regina said, rolling her eyes and turning to look at her mirror, "I took away her magic."_

" _And?" Henry pressed; knowing there had to be more. Elizabeth had barley started magic lessons with Regina, so he knew it would take more than binding her powers to stop his stubborn granddaughter. She'd been finding her way around Regina without magic for years._

" _I gave her a new mindset." Regina replied with a detached voice and a shrug. Refusing to look at her father, for if she did, she knew there'd be disappointment and fear in his eyes._

" _Regina…" He whispered, clearly afraid of what that meant._

" _Daddy, calm down. I wouldn't hurt my own child. I simply helped her become the daughter she should be," Regina stated, emotion still void from her voice._

" _I don't understand," relied Henry, hoping Regina didn't mean what he thought she did._

" _I simply used a little magic to change her behavior. Her refusal to listen is out of hand, and I'm done with the rebellious teenager thing. Besides, I have a feeling Elizabeth and I will be getting along just fine from now on." Regina said, a victorious smile spreading across her face._

" _Forcing her to obey you will just make her despise you more in the long run, you know that." Henry replied, disappointed with his own daughter's behavior._

" _It's not forcing her to behave, more like making her want to please me and listen to me. I'm her mother; my opinion of her should matter most." Regina stated simply, while missing the horrified look that spread across her father's face._

 _Henry couldn't suppress the horror that he felt. "She's turning into Cora… Her thirst for power and revenge are just as bad as her mother's." Henry realized, his heart breaking even more for his daughter. He walked away, needing to be away from Regina for the time being._

 _Regina was too busy staring at herself in the mirror, to notice her father leave. She, herself, was busy trying to block out the voices in her head. The voices that were trying to tell her the same thing, that she was just as horrible of a mother, as her own. Regina loved Elizabeth, but she couldn't have her daughter ruining her revenge on Snow, let alone joining Snow's side._

" _No, long term, Elizabeth would realize it was for her own good." Regina tried to reassure herself._

* * *

Storybrooke:

The next morning, I decided to get to school early. The sooner I started my history paper, the longer I'd have to work on it, but I needed a few things from the school library in order to do that. I'd gotten half a block away from home, when suddenly the town clock started to chime. My eyes snapped to it, surprised, as a small gasp escaped my mouth.

"The clock is working!" The obvious ran through my mind.

I was still staring at the clock when Henry was suddenly beside me, sounding slightly out of breath.

"What are you running from?" I questioned, my eyes finally tearing away from the clock to look at my brother.

"Nothing, I just wanted to walk with you," Henry replied back in an innocent voice. I eyed him suspiciously, but decided to let it go.

My mind had wondered back to the town clock, as we started our walk to school. I was still busy trying to recall if the clock had ever worked since I was born, when Henry's voice cut through my thoughts.

"You weren't always like this," he randomly stated. I shook my head and tried to process what he'd just said.

"Like what?" I asked, puzzled.

"So… obedient," he said, making me sound like a dog.

"Huh?" I asked, even more confused and a little irritated.

"I overheard you and mom talking last night… You know, about your test." He replied, a sheepish expression on his face.

"You eavesdropped on me?" I demanded, as I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and grabbed Henry's arm, making him stop next to me.

"Ooooorrrr, I happened to overhear you on my way to the bathroom," he replied with a shrug, as he continued to walk.

"Henry!" I scolded after him, clearly annoyed.

"Maddie, you're missing the point." Henry called back, unfazed by my annoyance.

"Fine." I huffed, hurrying to catch up with him. "What were you saying… Wait, Henry, this isn't the way to school!" I blurted when I realized we were walking towards Granny's. I had been too wrapped up in my thoughts, and didn't pay attention to where we'd walked.

"I didn't eat breakfast." Henry replied with another shrug, as he pushed on the door, entering in.

I let out a sigh, and followed him. "You know we're supposed to be on our way to school. Since you eavesdropped, you know that I told mom I'd follow the rules." I explained to him, as we sat down.

"That's what I'm talking about. Your need to do whatever mom says or expects -that's not really you, it's the curse." Henry stated simply.

I felt my face contort in frustration. Not this again. "Really, that's… You know what, whatever. I'm going to school." I snapped at him, about to get out of the booth.

"Where'd you get your locket?"

Henry's question caught me off guard, as my hand automatically went to the necklace around my neck. I grabbed the locket between my thumb and index finger, and held it against my chest.

"I… I've had it forever." I explained, confused as to why he was now bringing this up.

"No, tell me where you got it." Henry pushed back. His tone surprised me, but my brain did try to think back to when I'd gotten the locket.

"Henry… I… I don't know. Mom must have given it to me when I was really little." I finally responded back, failing to remember when, or how, I'd gotten the locket.

"Don't you find it odd that you can't remember, Maddie? You wear it _every day._ " Henry emphasized.

I really was trying to remember how I'd gotten the locket, or at least a comeback to retort at Henry. But my mind was blank. Out of the blue, I saw a blonde coming into Granny's.

My eye's turned to follow Emma, as she walked to the counter. "You're unbelievable, you know that?" I snapped at Henry. "You didn't want to walk with me, you just wanted to see Emma."

"I want you to meet her," Henry said in a small voice, again, taking me by surprise.

I quickly tried to gain my composure and to calm myself. I could see that this was a real desire on his part, and I didn't want to mess this up. However, I was not in the right frame of mind to officially meet his birth mom.

"How about some other time, bud." I said in a gentle voice, trying to let him down easy. "I really need to get to the school library to check out a few books for my history paper," I explained, as I pushed myself up from the booth.

Henry looked sad, but gave me an understanding nod. As I walking out the door, I heard Ruby come over and Henry ordered a hot chocolate with cinnamon, for Emma.

I rolled my eyes, but turned heading to school, my hand still absentmindedly holding my locket. The back of my mind still pondering the clock, and now my own necklace.

"So much for getting back to normal," I thought with a sigh, as I realized my headache was coming back.


	6. The Thing You Love Most: Chapter 2

Walking out of school, I was looking for Henry, so we could head to my mom's office. On Thursday's we always eat dinner at Granny's, before Henry's therapy session. Henry told me he had something he needed to do after school, so I told him I'd work on my paper until it was time to go to mom's office. My eyes were scanning the school playground, where Henry and I meet, when I noticed Derrick walking towards me. I readjusted all the books I had in my arms, so I could give him a small wave.

"Hey!" Derrick said, with a smile, as he walked up to me. "I looked for you at lunch today, but I didn't see you," He continued.

"Oh, sorry. I was in the school library working on my history paper." I said, trying to adjust the books more.

"I see that," he replied with a laugh, as he indicated to the books in my arms.

"Yeah, I ran out of room in my backpack, so I have to carry these ones." I responded, as I finally found Henry. Henry was walking towards me, with a contemplative look on his face. I'd noticed he'd come from a direction, other than his classroom, but I'd ask about that later. When Henry caught up to Derrick and me, he gave me a knowing look, but simply smiled at the two of us.

"Well, we better be going," I said, indicating to Henry and myself. "Our mom is waiting for us. See you tomorrow."

Henry and I had only taken a couple of steps, when Derrick called my name. "Maddie!"

He jogged the couple steps to us, and then paused looking at Henry and I. Henry let out a short sigh, "I'll tell mom you had to grab a book from the library, but are on your way." With that Henry kept walking, so I turned my attention back to Derrick.

"Are you okay?" Derrick blurted out.

"What was with these random questions today?" I pondered to myself. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine," I finally answered.

There was an awkward silence between us, as I looked at him waiting for him to respond. "Oh, good. I just wanted to check…" He replied, half heartedly.

"Okay, uh, thanks," I said just as lamely. When Derrick made no efforts to respond, I started to turn.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." I hadn't even taken a step when Derrick grabbed my arm, causing me to drop my books.

I instantly bent down to grab them, as did he. When we were both squatted down he grabbed my hand, making me look at him. "Maddie… I… Ugh, this isn't how I wanted this to go," He huffed.

"Wanted what to go?" I asked, confused.

"Asking you out," he confessed, looking at the ground.

Suddenly, I fell back on my butt and started laughing. Derrick gave me hurt, puzzled look. I tried to talk, but all that came out was, "We… *laughing* are… *more laughing* so… *snort* aw.. awkward!"

I was laughing so hard; tears were in my eyes. Derrick gave a few forced laughs as I tried to get control of myself, but mostly sat silently, with a confused look on his face.

"Sorry, I think I'm a little sleep deprived and crazy," I tried to explain, once I was better able to talk. He gave me a weird look. "Things have been a little stressful," I admitted. "Plus, all that was going through my head is that we look like a cheesy romance comedy. _The boy reaches for her arm, but she drops her books. They bend down to retrieve the books, and gaze into each other's eyes."_ I tried to explain but paused as a few laughs escaped, and Derrick still look hurt.

"I'm also terribly rude and socially awkward when I'm nervous," I mumbled out. I finally managed to close my mouth and kept it shut.

Derricks face finally broke out into a smile. "I personally think you're pretty adorable when you get flustered and are caught off guard," he said, finally laughing.

I smacked his arm and narrowed my eyes. "You were playing me?" I questioned, in a fake hurt voice.

"I'm pretty sure you were making fun of me asking you out, so I think we're even." He said, getting to his feet, my books in one arm and a huge smile on his face. He held out his hand to help me up.

"I was making fun of _both_ of us," I emphasized.

We both stood there for a second before Derrick finally spoke, "so want to.. you know… go out with me?" His voice was hesitant, but hopeful.

"I'd love too!" I said a little too eagerly. "Oh, wait. No… I can't" I trailed off.

"Oh, no worries then," Derrick responded, sounding bummed.

"No, it's not that. I want to go out, but I'm grounded for two weeks… I want to go out though…," I tried to explain.

"Really?! Okay, two weeks isn't long. We can plan for after you're no longer grounded." He said, sounding excited.

I smiled, "perfect! I really do need to go though, if I'm any later my grounding will in indefinite and neither of us want that." I held out my hands and Derrick handed over my books.

"See you tomorrow," Derrick said his smile somehow even bigger.

* * *

As I hustled to my mom's office, I was struggling to suppress the smile on my own face. I'd just had the most stereotypical moment of my teenage life, but I'd loved every second of it.

I had just made it down hall and was about to enter the first set of double doors to my mother's office, when Henry shoved past me. He looked distraught and on the verge of tears.

"Henry?" I tried to question, but he kept running. "What the hell happened?" I thought to myself, as I proceeded to find my mom. As I approached her office door, I could hear voices.

"How long was he there?" I'd only heard Emma's voice a couple times, and always from a distance, but I was pretty sure that had to be her.

"Long enough." By the tone of her voice, I could picture the satisfied smirk on my mother's face.

"You knew he'd be here…" Emma sounded exasperated and betrayed.

Suddenly, it dawned on me that Henry must have overheard them talking about him. "Poor kid," I thought. I was considering "breaking up" the fight until my mother continued talking, sending a chill down my spine with her heartless tone.

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday, at precisely 5pm, so I can take him to dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother…. Your move."

I'd never heard my mom speak like this… Talking about Henry, as if he were a game, or a simple possession.

"You have no soul. How in the hell did you get like this?" I heard Emma question, followed by footsteps. She stopped just outside the office, pausing to look at me. I gave her a sympathetic look, and she looked like she was about to say something, but instead she just shoved her way out.

I stood there, trying to decide if I wanted to follow Emma, when I heard more footsteps and looked up to see my mother coming to her office doors. "Madelyn, there you are," she said in a happy tone.

"She doesn't know that I heard them," I realized. It took a lot of will power, seeing as all I wanted to do was yell at her, but finally I said, "Hey, yeah, sorry. I needed to grab a few extra books for my history paper. We ready for dinner?" I asked, plastering on a fake smile.

"Actually, Henry went to see if he could start his session with Archie early, but you and I can grab some food." She replied, as if life were grand and normal. The way the lies rolled off her tongue sent another chill down my spine, but I realized two could pay that game.

"Oh, ummm, if it's alright I think I'll just head home then… I'm beat, and really want to keep working on my paper." I tried to keep an innocent look on my face, even though my head was screaming.

"Of course, dear. I'm proud of you for working so hard." She said, coming over and kissing my forehead, and then turned back towards her office. "I have a bit more work to complete, but I should be home in a couple of hours."

I watched her retreat to her office, my mind still ablaze with thoughts and questions. "Henry's right… You are evil," I thought, as I turned to leave. The conversation I'd heard between my mom and Emma was replaying over and over in my head. I need to figure out how all these pieces added up. I mean, I still don't really believe this "curse" idea, but Henry was right, things weren't as they seemed and I was now determined to figure out what was going on.

* * *

When I'd gotten home, I had no idea what to do next. My brain was too full of questions, so I'd just gone up to my room. When my mom got home later, I pretended to be asleep. I couldn't deal with her anymore today.

It was now 12:53am and I had been sitting on my window seat for a while. I was exhausted, but sleep just wasn't happening tonight. I was staring at the clock tower, the only thing I could see across the dark town, when there was a soft knock at my door.

"Maddie?" Came Henry's voice in a whisper, as my door slowly opened. His eyes landed on me by the window, so he shuffled in quietly, and closed the door.

Henry walked over, and climbed up next to me with way too much energy. "Henry, it's the middle of the night, why are you awake?" I questioned, slightly concerned.

"I could ask you the same question," he said back, with a smile. I rolled my eyes, but looked back out my window. I had my arms around my knees, when Henry scooted up next to me. I was a little surprised, seeing as how he hadn't tried to cuddle with me in a long time, but I quickly repositioned so he could snuggle in. We both looked out the window for a few minutes, when I asked softly, "You okay after today?"

Henry pulled away to look up at me briefly, but then cuddled back in. "Yeah, Emma came and found me at Archie's. Operation Cobra is officially a go!" He said, the excitement evident in his voice.

I pulled him away from me, so I could look at him this time. "Operation Cobra?" I questioned, amused at the name.

"Yeah, it's the code name for breaking the curse." He said with a shrug. He was trying to sound nonchalant, but I knew if I could see his face, he'd be beaming.

"So does this mean I'm part of Operation Cobra?" I tried to ask in a serious voice, but a smile spread across my own face.

Henry sat up, and turned to face me. "Well duh! You're my best friend, I can't do it without you," He said, his voice 100% serious. I felt tears burn the back of my eyes, but I quickly tried to blink them away. "But you can't tell mom," He said, giving me a hard look.

A small laugh escaped my lips, as I held out me pinky. Henry quickly gave me his, as we shook our hands up and down two times, pinkies interlocked, followed by a fist bump, and exploding it. "Trust me, I have no desire to tell mom," I tried to reassure him.

"You say that now, but even if the curse tries make you tell her, you have to fight it. This is top secret, okay?" He stated, still completely serious. I wanted to scoff at the curse comment, but knew I needed to be as serious as possible.

"I promise; operation Cobra is safe with me... And you know, if I'm part this top secret mission, I should probably get to know Emma, too. I mean, it's important to know your fellow spies." I said, giving him a soft look with a smile.

Henry's face broke out into another smile. "Really?" He questioned.

"Yes, really. It sounds like she's sticking around so…," I trailed off has he threw himself on me, in a hug. I laughed, as he broke the hug and cuddled back into me.

As we sat there, both looking out the window, my mind was still trying to process everything. I had no idea what all of this meant, but I did know that I had just promised my 10-year-old brother that I'd help him fight our mom. My stomach did a summersault at that thought, but I swallowed and tried my best to push my doubt and fear aside.

I looked down and realized Henry was starting to doze on me. "Alright kid, we both need sleep. You going to your bed, or you sleeping in mine," I asked, as patted his arm to get him to stand up.

"Yours," he mumbled as he dragged himself off me and shuffled the five steps to my bed, and flopped down. A small laugh escaped my lips, as I walked over and tucked him in. My brain was still way too wired, so I returned to the window seat, my eyes locking on the clock tower in the distance. I just wanted life to make sense again, but I had a feeling that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. My hand automatically went to my locket, grabbing the small trinket between my thumb and index finger. I ran the locket back and forth on the chain, and finally let out a sigh, deciding I should try to go to bed. I needed some sleep, plus, I just wanted my brain to shut down for a while.

I climbed in my bed, being cautious not to disturb Henry. As I laid down, I looked over at him. He looked like your typical, innocent, ten-year-old. And yet, he was so determined to take on the world. I let out another sigh, as I turned on my side. Slowly my brain started to cloud over, the thoughts and stress of today slowly disappearing, as I finally drifted off to sleep.


	7. Snow Falls: Chapter 1

**I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! Enjoy! :o)**

* * *

 _My lungs were burning and my eyes were trying to adjust to the smoky air. "Where am I?" I thought to myself, as I looked around the woods. I could hear yelling to my right, so I followed that sound. As I neared the noise, my senses told me something wasn't right. The burning smell was stronger, and the few voices I could hear, didn't sound happy._

 _I finally broke the cress of the hill, and my stomach flipped over causing me to fall to my knees and start dry heaving. Before me was the remnants of a village that had been burned, and the ground was littered with dead, mangled, bodies. I stared down at the ground before me, trying to steady myself. Finally, I looked back up, taking in the horrific sight in front of me._

 _In the midst of the chaos, something caught my eye. A small child was wondering around, calling "Momma?"_

 _I jumped to my feet and ran down the hill. I didn't stop until I reached the little girl. She froze when she saw me, so I slowed as I neared her, holding my hands up to show that I wouldn't hurt her. The child couldn't have been more than two, so I knelt down to her height, "Hi there sweetie, are you okay?"_

 _The little girl eyed me and whispered, "momma?"_

" _I don't know where your momma is, but we'll find her," I tried to reassure the child._

 _The little girl had taken a step towards me when a voice rang out, "There's no need." An elderly woman appeared from behind one of the burnt buildings. "That's the remains of her family's place, there," the woman indicated to a burnt home, behind the little girl. You could see two adult burnt bodies, in what I assumed was the kitchen, as well as another child._

 _I was mortified and I felt my stomach start to turn again. The woman walked up and picked up the child, then turned to me with an angry look._

 _I was taking in the damage, and finally turned to face her. "What happened here?" I asked, my heart breaking for this poor village._

 _The older woman scoffed, "As if you don't know?!" She growled at me. I gave her a confused look as she continued, "Your mother happened!" She snapped._

" _My mother… What are you talking about?" I managed to gasp out. None of this was making sense._

 _The woman gave me a hard look, "What? Didn't know your mommy was an evil woman?" She mocked me._

" _I just.. How… Why would she even do this?" I asked, waving my arm at the damage._

 _The old woman scoffed again, clearly annoyed at my ignorance. "She demanded we tell her where Snow White was and when we refused… well…" The older woman indicated to the burnt village._

" _Snow White? What are you talking about?" I demanded, starting to wonder if the old lady had hit her head or something._

" _My dear, you do know your mother is the Evil Queen, correct?" The woman asked, staring straight into my eyes._

* * *

Suddenly, I snapped awake. My heart was racing I was covered in a cold sweat. The room was bright, making it hard to figure out where I was. Slowly, my desk and bookshelf came into focus. "Oh thank god… It was just a dream." I thought to myself, trying to calm down. My body was shaking, and my stomach still felt like it wanted to throw-up.

The smell, the smell had seemed so real. The whole dream had felt real. I was still struggling to catch my breath, when my mom entered the room.

"Madelyn, if you don't get up… "She paused at the sight of me, still in bed, and drenched with sweat. "Honey, are you okay?"

I was still very shaky, but wasn't in the mood to talk about it. "I'm fine." I said, throwing off my blankets and getting up out of bed. My pajamas were drenched with sweat, and clinging to my body.

"You don't look fine," mom replied, crossing her arms, indicating that we weren't moving until I talked to her.

"I just had a nightmare," I tried to say casually, but even my voice was shaky. Looking at mom made my mind flashback to the old woman in the dream. The way her eyes bore into me… A shutter went down my body.

"Sweetheart, are you sick?" Mom questioned as she walked towards me. I took a step back, but she quickly closed the distance and her hand went to my forehead. "Madelyn, you're burning up!" Mom said with concern in her voice.

I took another step back, and tried to duck around her. "Mom, really, I'm fine. I just need a quick shower, and I'll be good to go." I stated. I had walked over to my closet, when suddenly a wave of dizziness hit. I tried to steady myself by grabbing the edge of my closet, but I wasn't fast enough and my legs gave out from under me.

"The only place you're going is back to bed. Come on." Mom said, coming over and helping me up.

"What was going on?" I wondered to myself. I'd felt fine just a few hours ago. I suddenly realized we were heading out of my room. "Uh, mom. My bed is back there," I said, pointing over my shoulder.

"I'm well aware, dear, but it's covered in sweat." She explained, leading me into her room. My mom kept a firm grip on both of my arms and led me into her bathroom, walking me over to the toilet and sat me down. She then turned around and started the bath water. When she turned to face me, I raised an eyebrow. "Bathe, and I'll go get you new pajamas. If you get dizzy when you try to get out, please yell for me." She said, giving me a look to make sure I'd understood her.

"Every teenager's dream, for their mother to see them naked." I stated sarcastically as I stood up. "I'm fine, mom."

"I mean it, Madelyn." She called as she walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

I quickly bathed and got out. I dried off and put on my mom's bathrobe, since she hadn't brought my pajamas in. Part of me was relieved that I was staying home. I felt miserable, and my head was pounding.

I walked into my mom's bedroom to see her placing a glass of water on the end table. My pajamas were at the end of her lounge chair, so walked over to grab them as she turned around. "I need to get your brother off to school, but get dressed, and lay down," she said, leaving no room for me to argue.

I gave her a small nod, as she turned and walked out of the room. I dressed and hung her bathrobe back in the bathroom. I finally looked at myself in the mirror, and a small gasp escaped my lips when I took in my reflection. I looked terrible. My face was flushed and there were dark circles under my eyes. My lips were ghostly white, and I could now see why mom was concerned. I looked like death.


	8. Snow Falls: Chapter 2

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The faint scent of apples and spice was filling my lungs. I inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of my mom's room. I awoke and assumed it was sometime in late morning, due to the light coming in through the window. Laying there, I took in my surroundings. My mom's giant, comfy, bed. The well placed arrangement of all the furniture. The room flowed flawlessly but it dawned on me then, my mom's room was elegant, but lacked… personality. Everything seemed flawless. Too perfect. I mean, I guess it makes sense, this is the mayor's house, but looking around, I realized you wouldn't know who lived here if it weren't for say, the one small picture of us on mom's dresser.

At the same time, I felt a sense of comfort being in this room, but why? I loved my mom, sure, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd sought comfort from her. She was a good mom, but, well, we just weren't that kind of family. But this room... Something about it just had this calming effect. Like I never wanted to leave. I felt as if all my worries washed away as I burrowed deeper into the blankets.

About this time, my stomach let out a growl. As comfy as I was, I realized I was starving. Heaving a sigh, I turned and saw a glass of water on the end table as well as a note that read:

 _Went to the office, but will come home at lunch to check on you. Call if you need anything. -_ _Mom_

Assessing how I felt, I realized I was doing much better. My head hurt way less, and I felt… almost content. I couldn't remember the last time I had cuddled into my mom's bed. As I took in the room, and breathed in the smell of my mom, I felt my stress drift away. I still felt exhausted, almost like I'd run a track race, but overall, compared to earlier that morning, I felt more human. I guess the stress of the last few days had really hit me this morning.

My stomach grumbled again, so I sat up and climb out of bed to head to the kitchen.

* * *

I was sitting at the counter, staring at my plain oatmeal, when I heard the front door open and close.

"Madelyn?" Came mom's vice from the entry way.

"Kitchen," I called back. I had been starving when I woke up, but looking at my oatmeal made me nauseous. I looked up as mom walked in, placing her purse on the counter across from me.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, as she walked up to me and felt for a fever. "Alright," I mumbled, with a shrug. "You're still warm," mom stated as she walked out of the room. She returned a few minutes later with the thermometer and held it in front of my mouth, expectantly. I rolled my eyes, but opened my mouth cooperatively.

The tiny beep indicated the thermometer was done, but before I could look at it, mom grabbed it up and said "100.9 (38.28c)," while pursuing her lips in thought.

"See, I'm totally fine," I tried to joke. Mom gave me an unimpressed look, and walked to the coffee maker. "Rough morning?" I asked, as she added coffee grounds to the filter. She only drank coffee after 10am if she's stressed.

She didn't answer, but turned to me, "have you eaten?"

I looked down at my oatmeal. "I made this," I said with another shrug. "But if I'm being honest, the idea of eating it is making me feel sick."

"How about some tea and toast?" She asked, as she started to fill the water kettle. "Or coffee and toast?" I questioned, somewhat hopeful. Mom just gave me a hard look, and turned to grab the bread out of the cupboard.

"Fine, tea would be nice, but no toast. I'm not hungry." I said weakly. Mom didn't answer again, but placed a piece of bread in the toaster and pushed the lever down. Then she turned and pulled out two mugs, and the tea for me.

Once everything was ready, mom pulled up the stool next to me, and sat down. I nibbled at my toast, but mostly sought comfort in my warm tea. I looked over to mom; she was staring absentmindedly at her coffee when a question popped into my head.

"Mom?" I said clearing my throat. "When did you become mayor?" I tried to ask nonchalantly, while picking up my toast to nibble at it again.

My mom shook her head, and looked at me, "What?" She said, sounding confused.

"What year were you elected as Mayor?" I asked again, busying myself with a sip of tea to avoid eye contact.

I realized I honestly couldn't remember when she'd taken office, or a time when she wasn't mayor for that fact.

"Madelyn, why are you asking this?" Mom sounded almost defensive. I finally looked at her, her eyes pierced into mine and I could see… Worry. No, fear, in them.

"Well, I..." I started to say, as her cell phone rang. She got up and answered it, so I stared into my tea.

"Yeah, fine. I'll head over now." She said, to whomever was on the other end. Hanging up, she started to put her cellphone in her purse. "I have to get back to the office. Eat your toast, please. I will see you tonight."

I was disappointed that she hadn't answered me, but another idea popped into my head, "May I have my laptop?" I tried to ask innocently.

Mom turned to look at me, "You're still grounded." She stated as an explanation.

"I know, but I figured since I'm home today, I'd work on my history paper." I explained, praying that my true intentions weren't showing on my face. Lying instantly made me feel even more nauseous, but the conversation with Henry popped in my head, and I remembered everything Henry and I had discussed. Operation Cobra. I'd promised to help. Plus, mom had looked weird when I asked about her becoming mayor.

I noticed mom was trying to read my face, so I tried my best to put on a mask of innocence. Finally, she let out a small sigh, "Alright, but only for homework. Got it?" She questioned, sternly.

"Yes ma'am."

Mom turned out of the room and I heard her in the study. She came back a moment later, handed me my laptop, and headed out.

Guilt flooded my body, but I was determined. I wanted answers, and sometimes that means lying in order to get them.

I saw that mom had left her coffee mug on the counter, and that there was at least two cups still in the pot. Shrugging to myself, I got up, refilled her mug, grabbed my laptop, and headed upstairs. It was time to do some research.

* * *

Walking into my room, I saw that my bedding had been stripped. Mom must have thrown my stuff in the wash, I realized. I looked at my desk chair, but it didn't look comfy, so I turned around, and headed to my mom's room. I figured since she told me to sleep in her bed earlier, couldn't hurt to hangout in there a bit longer.

I nestled into the blankets and opened my laptop. Upon hitting the power button, I realized I must not have powered it down before giving it to my mom, because the battery was dead. Heaving a sigh, I got up to retrieve my power cord.

Once I plugged everything in, and got re-situated, I started up my laptop. My hands were clammy as I opened the internet and went to Google. I wiggled my fingers over the keyboard as I tried to figure out what to type.

 _Regina Mills_

It took a lot of will power, but I finally hit enter.

 _No results_

Not specific enough I decided.

 _Regina Mills, Mayor, Storybrooke Maine_

My stomach gave a lurch as I hit enter this time.

It felt like the processing symbol had been turning on the screen for hours, when really it was seconds. All of a sudden, the internet crashed and an error page popped up. "Are you serious?!" I yelled, as I balled my hands into fists and tried not to chuck my laptop across the room. A fair number or swear words entered my head and may or may not have escaped my mouth.

No matter what I did I couldn't get the Wifi to come back. I ran downstairs and checked all the connections, restarted everything. Nothing. I had to take a couple calming breaths.

Coincidence. This was a coincidence.

A small voice in my head tried to lecture me, telling me, this is what I deserved for breaking the rules and sneaking around. My head was pounding again, and honestly I wanted to cry. My stupid dream from earlier still burned in my head. "My dear, you do know your mother is the Evil Queen, correct?" Played over and over in my ears. I know the dream was probably just a result of everything that had been going on, but it felt so real. As if I have lived through it. I could still feel how the heat from the burnt village seared my skin. And the god awful smell. A shutter ran down my spine.

I tried to shake the dream from my head. Well, nothing needed to be figured out today. Sleep, I need more sleep I decided. My head hurt, I didn't feel good, and well, I felt defeated. I hadn't done much, I knew that, but what more could I do while sick? I was grasping for an excuse to myself and laying in my mom's bed sounded comforting. So, I climb the stairs back to my mother's room and cuddled into her blankets. The ever comfy blankets that smelled like apples and made all the stress of life melt away.


	9. Snow Falls: Chapter 3

That night, I was laying in my bed catching up on my English reading. "Really, why did people find Jane Eyre to be so amazing?" I thought to myself. I was grateful that tomorrow was the weekend, so I had time to make up all that I'd missed at school. Especially, since I had slept the rest of the day, until mom had woken me for dinner. I felt like I'd accomplished nothing, but for once, I felt restored and better.

I was about to put the book down for the night, bored by it's content, when three small knocks came near my head, from the room next to mine. I was tired, but that was mine and Henry's signal. He hadn't used it in a long time, but I turned and did three small knocks back. Getting up, I crept to my door, and opened it slowly. I peered down the hall and could see that my mother's door was open, and darkness filled her room, so I crept to the banister. I could make out a dim light coming from under the closed door of the study. Keeping my footsteps light, I went down to Henry's room, and quietly opened the door.

As I entered, Henry turned on a lamp, but I quickly shook my head, and he turned it off. I walked over to his bed and sat down on the end. "Mom's in the study." I explained.

"Why is she still up?" He asked, more in general, than looking for an answer. "It's mom," was my reply. "And I think the real question is why are you up?" Last I'd looked at the clock it was about 11:24pm, so it had to be almost midnight by now.

"I needed to fill you in on Operation Cobra," Henry explained. "Especially, before our meeting tomorrow morning."

I gave him a puzzled look, but realized he couldn't see me in the dark. I got up and walked over to his window and pulled the curtains aside. It was a clear night, and it provided just a tad bit of light in the room. Walking back, I whispered, "What meeting?"

At that, Henry proceeded to fill me in on the events of the day. Finding Prince Charming, telling Emma about him, Emma getting Mrs. Blanchard in on the plan, giving Emma the book to give to Mrs. Blanchard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, you got the book back?" I asked, confused. "I thought mom had it? And I _still_ haven't read it." I emphasized.

Henry made a thinking noise, "right, sorry. Yeah, mom gave it back… Besides, I told you all about it."

"That doesn't count." I somewhat whined at him. I didn't know why, but I really wanted to read the book. I felt drawn to it now.

"Anyways," Henry cut in. "We're meeting Emma and Ms. Blanchard, at Granny's, to find out how tonight went."

"I see." I let out a sigh, "Henry, I don't know if I can go. I'm still grounded, remember? Mom wont let me go to Granny's to hang out."

"Oh... Well, mom thinks I'm going to the arcade, anyways." Henry stated, as if that was a better solution.

I gave him an unimpressed look. "Oh, cause that's so much better." I mumbled at him. "I think I'll have to sit this one out, bud."

Henry let out a disappointed sigh, "fine. But next time you're coming!" He exclaimed, perking up at the end.

* * *

Groaning, I pulled the blankets over my head. It had taken me a couple more hours to fall asleep after talking to Henry, and I felt like sleeping for hours still, yet. Light was streaming in my window, and I really had no desire to be awake just yet, but I had a dire need to use the bathroom. Heaving a sigh, I threw my blankets back and started to get up. I looked at the clock and froze briefly. 11:30am it read. My eyes widened in surprise at the time, but I continued out of bed to take care of business.

The house was quiet, as I descended the stairs, but upon reaching the bottom, I could hear my mother's faint voice coming from the study. "What do you mean he walked off? The man has been in a coma for years!"

I paused upon hearing this. A man, in a coma… The man Henry told me about. Prince Charming. This couldn't just be a coincidence.

"I'm on my way." I heard my mom snap, assuming to whomever was on the other end of the phone. Suddenly, the study door was thrown open and she came marching out. I was shocked, but quickly regained my composure, stifling a fake yawn, as I continued down the stairs. "Good morning" I said cheerfully. My mom paused, surprised by my appearance. She had a hard look on her face and was visibly irritated. I had to force myself not to recoil away from her.

Pausing only for a second, she turned, and walked down the hall, to the kitchen. I scrunched my face at her, but I followed behind, deciding I needed breakfast anyways. "I have work to attend to," came her sharp voice. She sounded furious, but why? "Who was this man to her?" I wondered.

"But.. It's Saturday." I whined, hoping to get some information out of her. However, she didn't even look at me. Instead, she picked up her coffee mug and chugged down the rest of her coffee. "Your brother is at the arcade. Don't forget to do your chores." She said to me, in between the gulps of caffeine.

"Good morning, my dear Madelyn. My sweet, kind daughter. I hope you're feeling much better, this morning. I must be off, but please know, I'll miss you dearly." I tried to mock, in a dreamy voice, but it came out having more of a bite. Her eyes snapped to mine, in surprise at my tone. I expected to be scolded for talking to her like that, but she didn't say anything. Instead, I saw her eyes move down to my locket and fix on it. I became instantly aware that I was holding it again, moving it along the chain. I immediately dropped it, and mumbled out a, "sorry."

A strange look crossed her face, but she shook her head, remembering the work she must attend to. "Don't leave the house, you're still grounded." She stated, as she placed her mug in the sink, then brushed past me without so much as looking at me, and started down the hall.

"Rude." I thought, as I looked up and saw coffee still in the coffee pot. I shrugged to myself, and retrieved a mug from the cupboard. As my hand was about to grab the handle of the pot, my mom's voice drifted down that hall, as I heard the front door open. "Don't even think about it, Madelyn!" Then the door slammed shut, behind her.

I froze, hand still in front of the handle to the coffee pot, mug in the other. A slight shutter ran down my spine, and I stuck out my tongue, in the direction of the door. I placed my empty mug on the counter, and rested my elbows on the counter top. "Now what?" I asked myself.

I gazed around the kitchen, but my eyes settled back on the coffee pot. "I can't just let it go to waste," I said out loud, to the empty kitchen. "The coffee gods would never forgive that." I justified, and picked up my mug again.

I was about to take a sip of the magical liquid, when my stomach dropped. Henry. Henry was meeting the blonde and Ms. Blanchard. They were meeting about John Doe and the story date. "Shit!" I exclaimed, to no one but myself. I set the mug on the counter and started to my room, but quickly turned around and shot gunned the coffee down. It burned slightly, but there was no way I was facing the day without it.

I sprinted to my room, put on workout clothes, shoved my feet in my tennis shoes, and was throwing my hair up into a pony tail, as I ran back down the stairs. I had to get to Granny's to tell them.

* * *

I was panting as I ran up to the front of Granny's. I had to stop briefly, and bent over to catch my breath. "Okay, maybe chugging the coffee had been a bad idea." I thought. Damn, I was out of shape and felt weak. I decided that after today, I needed to make a running schedule again.

"Focus, Maddie, focus," I snapped to myself. I walked into the diner, but didn't see the faces I was looking for. As I walked to the counter, Ruby came up to me saying, "hello."

I smiled back and waved a hand, indicating I didn't want to order. "Have you seen Henry?" I asked, still slightly breathless. Ruby filled me in, saying that Henry and the Emma lady rushed out, shortly after Mary Margaret arrived. I asked what way they went, and she indicated to the left. They must have been headed to the hospital, I decided. I said my thanks, and started out again. The hospital was on the other end of town, which really wasn't far, but it wasn't close either.

By the time I reached the parking lot, I was cursing myself, and holding my right side due to a side ache. I was covered in sweat, and felt nauseous from the coffee, and running on an otherwise empty stomach. I was about to enter the sliding doors, when I noticed my moms car out front. "Duh, of course she would be here." I thought, recalling the phone call I'd over heard. I was deciding what to do, when my mother suddenly appeared on the other side of the doors, her hand firmly on the back of my brother's neck. I didn't have time to move, when her eyes landed on me. Wearing my hot pink running gear had not been the smartest decision.

I saw her eyes widen and her nostrils flared, as she marched out the sliding doors and stopped in front of me. "I told you not to leave the house!" She growled at me, Henry still struggling beside her.

"I… I… I decided to go for a run and saw your car in front of the hospital. I got worried that something was wrong..." The lie flowed out.

She just continued past me, a clear indication that I was to follow. The ride back to the house was silent, and when we pulled up to the front, all she said was, "out." Henry and I exchanged glances. "Where are yo u going?" I asked cautiously.

My mom turned in the front seat, an impressive feat since she had her seat belt on, and glared at us. "I have work to do, now go inside, and stay there," she snapped. Her features softened slightly, but she said no more. Henry, got out of the car, unfazed at her words and ran to the house. I followed, a little more slowly, baffled at my mom's behavior.

I walked in the front door, and listened for Henry. I could tell he was in the storage closet, so I proceeded to the ruckus he was making. "What are you looking for?" I demanded from behind him.

He didn't answer me, but I watched as a pile of games fell off one shelf. Henry didn't even flinch as he turned around, a giant flashlight in his hand. "This!" he exclaimed, triumphantly.

"Uh, it's daytime, dude." I pointed out, confused.

"Prince Charming woke up and is missing. We have to help look for him." Henry explained, now headed to the kitchen. I looked at the mess in the closet, and let out an annoyed sigh, but went to follow.

When I got to the kitchen, he was shoving granola bars into his backpack. "Henry, we don't even know what is going on. We need to stay put." He faced me now, and proceeded to give me the low down on everything I had missed.

"Okay, but us romping around the forest will do nothing." I snapped, more harshly than I had intended.

"I know where he is, or, I know where he's going." Henry snapped back at me. "Why don't you want to help?" He suddenly demanded.

The question took me by surprise, and I took a step back. He eyed me, and I noticed he'd picked up the same piercing glare our mother had, even though they looked nothing alike. I couldn't find any words, so he shoved past me, causing me to stumble, and left. I heard the front door slam shut, but didn't turn around.

I knew I should go after him, but… I couldn't. Looking around, I decided I might as well finish my chores, as well as Henry's apparently.

* * *

It was nearly 9pm, and I had the house phone in my hand. If Henry wasn't back in 3 minutes, I was calling my mom. I'd cleaned the house, done some laundry, and tried to do homework, but I was too filled with guilt and worry. I should have gone with him, and I was furious with myself for being such a coward.

Unexpectedly, the front door open and I jumped up off the couch. My mom and Henry were bickering, and I paused, hiding myself in the shadow of the dark sitting room. I heard Henry whine out something like, "how long?"

Just barley over the threshold, I watched my mom spin him around to face her, and looked him straight in the eyes saying, "Until I decide otherwise." Her eyes widened slightly, daring him to argue back.

He struggled out of her grasp, threw his backpack by the front door, and march up the stairs. After a few seconds, we could hear his door slam shut, hard enough that the walls shook slightly.

Mom clenched and unclenched her hand several times, her eyes still looking up towards Henry's room. She looked much more relax, even with Henry's explosion of behavior just now. I could see her run her tongue over her teeth, lips closed, thinking. Then a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and with one more look up, she strolled down to her study, and quietly shut the door behind her.

I continued to stand in the shadows, confused for a couple of seconds, but set off to talk to Henry. I picked up his backpack on my way. Dang, this thing was heavy, but I noticed that the zipper wasn't closed all the way, and I could see inside a little. The corner of a brown, leather book, poked out slightly.

The story book I realized and stopped, halfway up the stairs. I unzipped the backpack enough to pull it out. The book was much heavier than I had expected, but it was here, and I was holding it. I looked back down to the study, and then back up to Henry's closed door. Making a split decision, I walked up the rest of the stairs and entered into my own room, closing the door behind me.

It was time for me to read the story book.

* * *

 **I get a 3 day weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to start writing the next episode! :o) Cheers!**


	10. The Price of Gold: Chapter 1

**Sorry! Sorry! Life... life... life. I will try to be better about posting and thanks to those that haven't given up. I actually have the next few episodes written, it's just a matter of making time to post and edit. However, I'll make more of an effort. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 _Enchanted Forest:_

 _The sun was shining through the clouds, creating spectacular sun-streaks over the forest. Elizabeth was enjoying the view of the forest and villages, that were just beyond the palace, but she was clearly bored. There was nothing to do and Regina wasn't due back until super. Elizabeth had asked Regina to take her with on the trip, wherever it was she was going, but Regina said it was matters for an adult. It took a lot of will power for Elizabeth not to roll her eyes at that, but she didn't want to upset her mother or disobey, so she'd nodded her understanding and kissed Regina on the cheek goodbye._

 _Elizabeth often found myself spending countless hours on Regina's balcony, reading, writing or trying to find ways to pass the time. She longed to be out exploring, visiting the nearby villages, but her mother had told her that she needed to stay in the palace. You could see some of the villages from the balcony, hence why the girl spent so much time here. She'd pretend she was out there. Elizabeth usually became swept up in her day dreams, but today her mind was blank._

 _She'd just decided to go sneak to the kitchen for a snack, when someone cleared their throat behind her. Elizabeth gave a small jump, and turned around. "Oh, grandfather! You startled me." Elizabeth said with a smile. Grandfather was one of her favorite people. He never failed to make Elizabeth laugh, and was always bringing her cookies, just out of the oven._

" _My apologies, Lizzie." Another smile flashed across the girl's face at the nick name. Henry was the only one that called her Lizzie. He bowed his head slightly in apology and continued, "I came to see if you'd like to help me start super?"_

 _Elizabeth gave one last look at the forest and turned back to him, nodding. At least it would help the time pass, and Grandfather had the best stories._

* * *

 _Elizabeth was cutting up apples, for a pie, when her Grandfather asked, "are you happy?" The girl was intent on the task at hand, and the question took her by surprise._

 _Elizabeth's head snapped up and she looked at him questioningly. "Of course," She said back, without thinking._

 _Henry was looking at the potatoes he was cutting up for a stew. "Don't you miss your friends or running around the country side? Don't you miss Snow?"_

 _Elizabeth's body visibly tensed at the mention of Snow's name. "I…" It was clear the girl was confused as to where all of this was coming from. They weren't allowed to speak of Snow, unless Regina brought her up._

" _Grandfather, you know mother asked me to stay in the palace" Elizabeth finally replied._

" _That didn't used to stop you," he responded with a chuckle._

 _Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, but that was when I was a reckless kid. I know better, now." She said with a shrug, as she turned to look for the cinnamon._

" _Do you remember how you got that necklace?"_

 _Elizabeth froze, her hand on her locket. It seemed to be a stress reaction, to hold the charm in her hand. Slowly, she dropped her hand down, walked over to wash her hands, and grabbed a rag to wipe the sticky apple off the necklace._

" _Of course. Mother gave it to me." Elizabeth said back. A sad sigh came from behind her, so she turned to look at him. "Grandfather?" she questioned quietly._

 _Henry looked at her, with a sadness in his eyes that she'd never seen before. "When was the last time you remember seeing Snow?"_

 _Another question that made Elizabeth's head spin. She wanted to demand an answer as to what this was all about, but the older man seemed to be trying to figure out something himself. "Uhh, I guess not since before she ran away."_

 _The rims of Elizabeth's eyes reddened with tears at this thought, so she walked over to grab the cinnamon and turned back to the apples._

" _She did alter your memories," She heard Henry grumble under his breath._

" _What are you talking about?" Elizabeth finally requested._

" _My dear… This isn't you. Your mother… She… You need to take off the locket." Henry demanded in an urgent voice._

 _The urgency and frustration in his voice filled Elizabeth with worry and it was clear she was about to respond, when from the doorway came, "There you two are! I've been looking everywhere for you both."_

 _Regina entered the kitchen, her long, black, shimmering dress dragging behind her. Per-usual, her hair was piled on her head, there was dark eyeliner around her eyes, and her lips were a deep red._

 _Part of Elizabeth wanted to laugh at seeing her mother, the queen, in the kitchen. It was comical and clear that Regina didn't belong in there. "Oh mother! You're back!" Elizabeth finally exclaimed. "Please tell me all about your trip," She practically begged, clearly relieved to have ended the conversation with her grandfather._

" _Let's head somewhere more comfortable and we can chat. I have a surprise for you." Regina replied, giving her father a stern look, that let him know she'd overheard their conversation._

 _Elizabeth walked over to wash her hands, again, and then hurried to join her mother. As the women retreated down the hall, Henry heard his daughter say, "I was thinking that you should start coming with me on my trips."_

 _A sad look spread over the older man's face. He knew Regina would seldom leave Elizabeth with him alone now. Henry turned back to making supper, his mind thinking over things, while his daughter and Elizabeth climbed the stairs to Regina's sitting room._

 _Elizabeth's own mind was trying to understand all that had just happened. Her hand toying with her locket, trying to remember how she'd gotten it. Her grandfather had seemed so worried, but why? Why did she feel as if she were missing something? Elizabeth looked at her mother, walking next to her with her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder as if to guide her. Could it be possible her mother had done something to her? Elizabeth had never questioned why she wasn't allowed to leave the palace, but now that Regina had mentioned that she could, the girl was suspicious. Of what, she didn't know. Only that something wasn't quite right._

* * *

Storybrooke:

Emma and Henry were walking to the bus. Feeling like a creeper, I tried to stay far enough back, hoping no one would see me, but close enough so that I could see where the blonde went. Finally, the bus pulled away and Emma started down the sidewalk. "Okay, Maddie. Now." I tried to prompt myself.

I was about to run to catch up with her, when the sheriff car stopped in front of Emma, with the siren blaring. I'd barley moved a step, so I quickly pulled back, and watched. Being where I was hiding, I was too far away to hear the conversation, but Emma looked amused at whatever Grant was saying to her. Eventually, Sheriff Grant got back in the car and drove off, as Emma continued down the sidewalk to Granny's. I was about to start after her, when a voice sounded next to me, "Maddie?"

I startled, and quickly suppressed the scream that tried to escape my throat. I looked up, and took in Dr. Hopper standing next to me. "H, H, Hi." I managed to stutter out. Dr. Hopper looked down at his watch, then back up to me. "Do I want to know what you're up to?" He questioned, but without any trace of accusation.

"Can we just pretend you didn't see me here?" I tried to sound innocent, even though it was clear I was up to something. The shrink gave me a soft, but knowing look, and said, "Deal, but do be careful. Whatever it is you're trying to do." With that, he turned and headed towards his office.

Letting out a breath, I tried to regain my composure, and continued on my way to find the blonde. As I was coming up to the diner, my mother suddenly emerged, a smug look on her face. I froze on the spot, my heart instantly pounding and adrenalin and fear surging through my veins. I couldn't move. I could have sworn I'd watched her go towards her office this morning, what on earth…

By the time I realized I should hide, instead of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, my mom was already at the entryway of Granny's. I just stared in horror, waiting for her to spot me. However, thank the heavens, she was looking down at her phone and turned the opposite direction of me. Before risking a chance of her looking back, I ducked my head and ran to the diner. It was becoming very clear that I wasn't meant to be a detective.

Shaking my head to clear it, again, I looked around and realized Emma was nowhere in sight. I noticed Ruby behind the counter, giving me a puzzled look, so I walked up. "Have you seen Emma?"

"The blonde? Yeah, she's in the laundry room of the Inn." She said with a shrug. I started to turn, when Ruby stopped me. "Here." She said, handing me a to go cup of coffee. I gave her an appreciative smile, and walked through the back. This whole thing was taking way longer than I had planned and there was no way I was getting to school in time for second period.

Walking towards the back, I could hear Emma talking to someone. I knew the other voice, but couldn't think of who it belonged to. Not wanting to barge in, I leaned against the wall and sipped my coffee. Not long after, Emma walked out and stopped dead in front of me, taking me in. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it.

"Can we talk?" I finally asked. The blonde looked back towards the laundry room, then over me, almost like she was looking for something or someone. "Uh, yeah. Sure." She said, as if unsure whether it was a good idea.

* * *

The blonde and I were sitting on the deck of the jungle gym, sipping drinks and swinging our legs.

"So you decided to stay?" I said lamely.

Emma chuckled, "I'm glad everyone seems to have noticed." She replied somewhat sarcastically.

Alright, get to the point, Maddie. "Do you believe Henry?"

I watched her process the question. She took her time and really thought it over. "I don't know." She finally answered, and I could tell she was being honest.

We were silent for a few minutes. "So, what is it you want know, Maddie?" Emma asked. She didn't mean anything by it, simply she was curious.

"I don't know." I finally responded. Then laughed at the response, that was the same as her own. She smiled, and looked down at our swinging feet. "Henry… Henry's my brother. He's turned our family upside, found you, and thinks you're going to save the day. I don't want him to get hurt." I mumbled at the end.

"I think we both know he's already hurting." Emma said, sympathetically.

"I want to see you as the enemy," I replied truthfully. "But?" Emma asked hesitantly.

"But" I huffed out, "I'm starting to rethink who the enemy might be." I answered, looking at Emma then down at the paper mug in my hand.

We both let out a sigh, not sure what to say next. Emma's next question surprised me a little. "Henry says people can't remember their past, that it's all fuzzy." Emma started, as I looked back up at her.

"And you want to know if it's true?" I finished for her, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah… and could you not look at me like that. You look like your mom and it kind of creeps me out."

Coffee shot out of my nose, and I started laughing and coughing at the same time. Emma quickly leaned away and threw a couple napkins at me. "Whoa, kid! You okay?" She asked, finally leaning back towards me once no more fluids were escaping, and whacked me on the back as I coughed.

I couldn't breathe, but I also couldn't stop laughing. I had tears streaming down my face from the episode, but eventually regained my composure. "You and Henry are clearly related." I coughed out.

Emma raised an eyebrow herself, but I could see the gleam in her eyes at my words. She wanted that to be true. It was then, that I could clearly see that this woman wasn't here to hurt my brother, she might not actually know why she was here, but I felt like I could trust her.

I cleared my throat a couple of times, blew my nose into a napkin and cleaned up the mess on myself, the best that I could. I didn't know how to answer her question. "I have memories." I finally started. The look on Emma's face changed from concern over my choking fit, to pure concentration on what I was saying.

"It..." But I didn't know what to say next. "It's random things that I can't remember." The fact that I was admitting this made my stomach turn. "Like, when my mom became mayor, or what we did last Christmas."

Emma looked at me. "How old are you?"

The question threw me off, but I responded, "sixteen?"

"So you're six years older than Henry." Emma stated. "Then you should remember - what did he do for his 5th birthday?"

"Ummm, okay. Random." I said, but started to think. "Oh, that's easy. We went to the go-karts! You had to be at least five to ride as passenger." I explained. A smile spread across her face, but suddenly my stomach dropped.

Emma saw my face, "what's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. That's just all that I remember." Emma eyed me. "To be fair, I was only 11." I explained.

It was a lie. I could remember more, or at least, I think I did. For some reason, very faintly, I remember driving Henry at the go-karts, but that couldn't be possible. You had to be at least 16 in order to drive a passenger. I should have only been 11 at the time, so I couldn't have driving him.

I shook my head. The more I thought about it, the crazier it seemed. I tried really hard to get the memories, but the harder I thought, the more blank my mind went. It was five years ago, and well, who cares about their younger sibling's birthday, I finally justified to myself. I was thinking about this too much. No, it must have been mom driving him, and I was in my own kart, I realized.

All of a sudden, I could remember mom and Henry in a kart. There was a huge smile on his face, and mom even looked amused at the situation. I was in my own kart and we were racing. That was it. That's what happened. I shook my head at my own silliness. I felt more relieved now that I could remember, not that the details really mattered. The panic faded, and I turned back to Emma.

"Anyways, see, I can remember things." I continued. Emma eyed me suspiciously, but waved it off.

We swung our legs a bit more in comfortable silence, when she asked, "Do you believe him?"

I hesitated. Did I believe that my ten-year-old brother was right? That we were fairy tale characters, living in a different realm, all because my mother, the Evil Queen, cast a curse? Did I believe that this woman, his birth mother, was the savior, or whatever it was that he called her? Did I think my mother was acting weird, that things didn't add up, that basically my whole life was a lie? Uhhh...

Letting out a sigh, my hand absentmindedly pulled out my locket and started to fiddle with it. Looking up at Emma, I said, "I honestly don't know what I believe."


	11. The Price of Gold: Chapter 2

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Walking aimlessly, I was thinking about what Emma and I had discussed. I felt removed from reality. As if, life was moving forward, but I was stuck in a place between the past and present. It had been almost a week since I'd read the story book, and ever since, an uneasy feeling had settled in my stomach. Thinking back to the book-

 _I'd stayed up most of that night, reading it and rereading it. There were a few pages in the back that had been missing, but the rest of it, I tried to burn into memory. I had to know, had to understand the content within. My had breath caught in my throat. That man. I knew that man, but how?_

 _I was at the part of the book, where the Evil Queen rips out her father's heart, in order to enact the curse. "Brutal," I said out loud to no one, when then the image of the man caught my eye. I studied him._

" _You're going crazy," I finally told myself. This was a story book. However, it didn't stop me from barging into Henry's room at nearly 4am, turning on his bedside light, shaking him awake, and making him discuss the book with me._

" _Henry, this man. What is his name?" I demanded from my half asleep, younger brother. Henry had clearly been confused, and dazed, but snapped to attention when he saw what I was talking about._

" _I don't know." He said with a shrug. "Just that he's the Evil Queen's father."_

 _I let out a frustrated huff. Henry gave me a puzzled look, "Maddie, you okay?"_

 _Realizing I was probably just exhausted, and overrating in regards to the gray haired man, I asked, "Who do you think I am?"_

" _Elizabeth," Henry stated, without hesitation and as if it were common knowledge. "The Queens daughter."_

" _Why?"_

 _Henry rubbed his face, apparently realizing I wasn't letting him go back to sleep until we discussed this. He sat up, and made himself comfortable, resting his back against his headboard._

" _Well, she's the queen's daughter." He repeated, again. I rolled my eyes at him and he added, "And she has your necklace."_

 _My eyes shot up to his, then down to the book. Quickly, I fumbled through the pages, until reaching the part where Elizabeth had stood her ground against the queen, and as a result, the queen had cursed her with a locket. I'd assumed this is who Henry thought I was, but I hadn't really looked at the locket. The locket was the exact same as mine, down to the small engraved flowers._

As I was walking, I was toying with my locket. I'd come to realized it was a bad habit, but I was especially aware of it now, since seeing the exact drawing of mine, in that book. Part of my brain kept trying to chalk it up to coincidence, and that if I just asked my mom, she'd be able to explain all of it. However, between my promise to Henry, and the weird feeling in my gut, I'd done my best of avoid my mother over the last week, instead.

Part of me wanted to take the necklace off, but if I was being honest, I was too scared too. I know, it's silly, it's a locket. A piece of jewelry doesn't hold power over me, but I just couldn't bring myself to remove it.

* * *

Opening the cupboard, a mug fell out and crashed to the ground. I jumped back as it shattered into large pieces all over the floor. Letting out an annoyed groan, I bent down to start cleaning up the mess. As I was doing so, the doorbell rang. I furrowed my brow confused as to who it could be. Mom had left for her Saturday meeting thing, and Henry had run out shortly after her, saying he was hanging out with Emma.

Deciding the broken mug wasn't moving anytime soon, I carefully stepped over the pieces and headed for the door. I was about even with the stairs, when the door flew open and there stood Ray.

"There you are! Where the hell have you been?!" She demanded in a somewhat angry voice. "Come on in." I replied back sarcastically, and turned around, heading to clean up the mess I'd been about to attend to. Ray followed me without pausing, but said nothing further. Truth was, I was relieved to see her. I'd been avoiding her, because, well, I didn't know how to tell her what was going on.

Grabbing the broom, I swept up the mug pieces and disposed of them. Then I turned back to the cupboard to pull out another, non-broken one, and the coffee stuff. Ray had made herself comfortable on a bar stool, as I went about my business, but after I had poured the water in the coffee maker, and switched it on, her voice cut through the silence, "Mads?"

There was more emotion in her voice than I had expected. Anger, confusion, irritation, sadness, and maybe frustration. I slowly turned to face my best friend.

"Is this because Derrick finally asked you out?" She demanded. I let out a chortle, thinking she must be kidding. When the look on her face didn't waver, I sobered up and said, "wait, is that what you all think? Is that what Derrick thinks?"

Ray looked at me hard, but nodded her head yes. "No… no, no. That's not it at all. I'm excited to date Derrick!" I exclaimed at her. Angry tears prickled at my eyes and I quickly tried to blink them away.

"Then tell me what is going on." Ray demanded in a stern voice, that let me know she was done waiting for me to tell her at my own pace. I let out a sigh in defeat. "You want coffee?" I asked, as I turned to pour me a mug.

"Sure," said Ray from behind me, as I heard her get up and move to the fridge, assuming to grab creamer. I filled her a mug, and turned handing it to her. She splashed in a dab of creamer, then looked up at me with piercing, expectant, eyes. "Fine," I huffed as I turned to walk to the sitting room.

I situated myself on the floor. This way I could hear and see if my mom randomly drove up, plus Ray and I had all of our important conversations sitting or lying on the floor. Sitting with my back against the front of the sofa, my legs folded under me, and coffee mug in hand, I let out a shaky breath trying to decide where to start. Ray sat in between the sofa and coffee table, crossed her own legs, facing me. Taking one more breath, I decided to hell with it, and started from the beginning. I stared with Mrs. Blanchard first giving Henry the storybook and talked all the way to the events of this morning.

Ray didn't ask a single question throughout the whole thing and when I finished she was staring at the floor. She was clearly thinking, but I was scared to ask her what about. Suddenly, she looked up at me with a decided look on her face. Placing her empty coffee mug on the coffee table next to her, she clambered on the couch behind me. "What are you doing?" I demanded, when I felt her hands on my necklace.

"We're finding out if Henry's right." Ray said back, her hands still moving behind my neck. I felt the locket being lifted off my chest, and over my head. I didn't move, and was holding my breath, but nothing happened.

"Huh," Ray said, after a second. We both sat unmoving, but after about a minute she slowly moved back down to sit beside me. When I finally looked at her, she was seated next to me on the floor, her back against the front of the sofa, and my locket in her hands. "Well, do you feel any different?" She questioned, kind of hopeful.

Thinking about it, I finally shook my head no. "I don't think so. Everything looks a feels the same."

"Guess we debunked that, then." Ray replied, sounding disappointed but triumphant. Eying the locket, I reached out a hand a took it from her. Turning it over between my fingers, I couldn't figure out what I was feeling. I'd been so sure that something would change when I took it off, but alas, nothing.

We were silent for a bit longer, but when we finally made eye contact, both Ray and I burst out laughing. As insane as it all seemed, as stressed as I was, I was beyond grateful to have my best friend to help me though these moments. Part of me was bummed that nothing had happened, but I was more relieved than anything. Plus, Ray had taken it seriously, and I'd been so nervous, but thinking about it now, it was hilarious. I really had been going crazy over nothing.

"Want to get some food at Granny's?" Ray asked, once our laughs started to subside. Getting up, I reached a hand down to pull her up. "I'd love to."

* * *

The rest of the weekend passed by uneventful. Henry had told me all about the maid, her baby, and Emma's involvement. I had to admit, I was impressed with her bravery to stand up to Mr. Gold. That guy weirded me out, and I did my best to avoid him when he came around to talk to my mom. I was also somewhat jealous that my younger brother continued to be more daring adventures than me, but whatever. Ray and I had had a wonderful afternoon gossiping and eating diner food, on Saturday. We made all kinds of plans for the next week, and I promised her I'd talk to Derrick.

Even my mom seemed to be in a better mood, no idea why. However, I wasn't going to push it. My grounding was up next week, and well, since Ray took off my necklace I felt relaxed and free. The fact that nothing had changed made the world seem normal again. I hadn't told Henry yet, but I would. I just needed to figure out a way to let him down easy. For the time being, I left the locket on my desk, deciding I was done with its drama.

I'd decided to take a nice bubble bath to end my weekend. I figured a good soak in the tub would prepare me for the next week of school, but I was out of my own bubble bath, so I'd asked my mom to use some of hers. As I was crossing her bedroom, to the bathroom, something stopped me. It was weird that this kept happening, but then my eyes landed on the picture. The picture that was on my mom's dresser. The picture that I'd looked at hundreds of times.

A cold sweat instantly started on my brow and my dinner was dangerously close to coming back up. The picture was from a morning spent by the water, and in it, my mom had an arm around both me and Henry, pulling us into a loving hug. We were all smiling, and actually looked like a happy family, however, that wasn't the problem. Henry was about six in the picture, which meant I should be twelve, but I wasn't. In this picture I was very clearly 16.


	12. That Still Small Voice: Chapter 1

**Thank you for all the kind reviews! I hope you've had a wonderful weekend thus far! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Enchanted Forest:_ **  
**

 _The carriage bumped along the lane. It had been a long, hot, day, that never seemed to be coming to an end. Elizabeth didn't know how long they'd been traveling, but it had been hours. She kept stealing glances at Regina, but the Evil Queen just stared out the tiny window, a determined look upon her face._

 _Ever since the weird conversation with her grandfather, Elizabeth had been on edge with her mother. Her locket seemed like a heavy weight on her chest at all times. She'd tried to take it off, but for some reason she couldn't get the clasp to open. Elizabeth wasn't sure if it was coincidence, or if her grandfather was right, and she'd been cursed by her own mother._

 _The girl also regretted her wish to be allowed to travel with her mother. Being stuck in the castle was much better than being dragged all over the countryside. Elizabeth seldom was allowed out of the carriage, and the few times she was, Regina kept her right next to her. According to her mother, it was for Elizabeth's safety, but that seemed odd. Who'd want to hurt her?_

" _Mother? Whatever happened to Mary?" The question popped out of Elizabeth's mouth before she'd even processed it. Regina's eyes tore from the countryside to look at her daughter, a bewildered look on her face. "Mary? "She asked, clearly not knowing who Elizabeth was talking about._

" _My handmaid?" Elizabeth asked tentatively, but holding her mother's stare. "And my friend," Elizabeth thought the second part to herself._

 _Regina gave the girl a hard look, clearly confused where this was coming from. "I let some of the staff go after your father's death, I'm sure this Mary was among them."_

" _Oh," was all Elizabeth could say. Both women went back to sitting in silence, as the carriage bumped along. Elizabeth's head was swimming with thoughts and questions. "She did alter your memories." echoed in her head. What had her grandfather meant? Elizabeth was sure her memories were her own, she remembered everything, or so she thought, but…_

" _Why'd Snow run away?" This question came out as a whisper, and for a second, Elizabeth wasn't sure if she'd simply thought it or actually said it. However, once her eye's met her mother's, she knew she'd spoken the words out loud, and by the look on her mother's face, it had been the wrong question to ask._

* * *

Storybrooke:

"Faster." That's what I kept telling myself. If I ran faster, I could run away from everything. There was no rhythm to my running; I simply ran as hard and as fast as I could. My foot steps were muffled by the dirt, and I could barely make out the shapes of what I was running past. However, it was no use. No matter how much I pushed myself, I couldn't get the picture out of my head. The picture that was all wrong. I had only looked at it for a second, before my mother caught me off guard that night, but I know what I saw. I was very clearly the wrong age in that picture.

Suddenly, I felt a pull at my foot and then I was sailing through the air. I landed in a heap, on top of some ferns and twigs. My right ankle instantly hurt and the wind had been knocked out of me. Rolling onto my back, I was wheezing and trying to collect my breath. I looked around, and it was then that I was aware of just how dark it was and just far into the forest I'd ran. Dirt, pine needles, and other debris was sticking to my sweat-covered-skin, as I tried to sit up.

Taking in the damage, my hands were skinned and burning, as well as my right knee and shin. My ankle was already throbbing slightly and I was scared to move it. "Crap." I hissed to no one, but myself. I looked around, but it was no use, I couldn't really make out where I was. Angry tears started to spill out, as I tried to collect myself. "Crap, crap, crap!" I screamed into the empty forest.

I grabbed a rock that was next to me a threw it as hard as I could. It didn't go very far, but as it landed a sudden rumbling shook the ground.

* * *

Hobbling, I managed to get to the old coal mines. I'd been able to hear all kind of commotion coming from there, when I neared the edge of the forest, so I figured that was where the rumbling had come from. It was common knowledge that the mines were unstable, so I wouldn't be too surprised if a tunnel had collapsed or something. The mines were closer than anywhere else, so I decided to head that way in hopes of maybe getting a ride home.

Once I managed to get to the edge of the crater, that the entrance to the mines sat in, I had a clear view of what was happening down below. My mom's voice caught my attention. Across the crater, she was directing the crowd to step back. I'd started down the road, to get closer. As I neared, I could see that Sheriff Grant was roping off the mine with… Emma. "Huh, random." I thought. I caught a glimpse of something shining on her belt, and the conversation I'd seen her and the sheriff had, now made sense. Emma apparently worked for Storybrooke.

I was surprised just how many people were down there, trying to see what had happened. Henry was talking to Dr. Hopper and Emma, so decided to wait by my mother's car. I'd managed to avoid her pretty well since the picture, but in my condition, I knew there was no way I'd be able to walk all the way home. As I neared the car, I watched my mother break up the meeting with Dr. Hopper, Henry, and Emma. Henry started towards the car, but stopped abruptly when he saw me. Not wanting to talk to him, I got in the car, but Henry clambered in shortly after me, and then he looked shocked at my appearance. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." I snapped a little more harshly than I'd intended. Taking a breath, I looked out the car, "what happened?" I asked, indicating to the mine entrance. Henry started to fill me in on his theories as to the cause of the rumbling. I was zoning out slightly, when I realized he'd become quiet. I turned to look at him, and he was eying me. "What?" I asked, confused by his weird look. "When did you take your necklace off?"

As Henry finished his question, mom appeared at the driver side of the car. The window was down and she'd clearly heard him. Her brown eyes locked on my neck briefly, before she took in the rest of my appearance. "Madelyn, what on earth… what happened to you?" She sounded more frustrated than worried, but quickly gave me a concerned look.

"Nothing, I fell." I snapped at her. I was grateful that it was slightly dark in the backseat, and she couldn't see the full extent of my injuries. Heck, I hadn't even gotten to see the full extent of my injuries, but I could feel the dirt and debris stuck to the right side of my body and face. My hands still burned slightly, and my right leg wasn't happy. However, I refused to show any pain on my face. Mom put her fingers to her temples before climbing in the driver's seat.

* * *

The drive to the house was silent. Once the car stopped in the driveway, Henry darted for the house, leaving me to climb out of the back somehow on my own. I really didn't want to move. I was already stiff, but I knew I needed to get cleaned up. I went to lean down to move the passenger seat, when mom beat me to it. The seat slid forward, and she stepped aside to let me out. I swallowed, and the hoisted my body out. quickly grabbed my shoulders to steady me, as I stumbled out of the car. "Madelyn." she said in a voice, that demanded an explanation.

I tensed my body and huffed out, "I fell in the forest on my run." I tried to shove past her, not looking at her, but she grabbed my arm and whirled me around to face her. I hissed in pain, but stopped. "What?" I growled at her.

Her eye's widened in surprise and anger at my tone. "What the hell here you thinking? Running in the forest at night? Madelyn…" I pulled my body out of her grip, and started past her, again. "I'm taking shower," I snapped back at her and forced myself to walk steadily into the house.

I didn't stop until I reached my bathroom. Shutting the door, I paused before turning on the light. Once I did, I sucked in a breath. My hair was covered in dirt, leaves, and blood. It was falling out of my ponytail, and looked crazy. There was dirt on my face was well, and small scratch on my chin. As my eyes traveled down, they assessed more damage. I looked at my hands, they were scrapped and dirty, but not too bad. The hem of my shirt was torn, and once I took in my right leg, I gasped slightly. It was coated in the dirt and blood from my knee to my shoe. I gingerly moved my foot. The ankle pulled slightly, but it dirt hurt as back as I expected. We'd see how it felt in the morning.

Heaving a sigh, I started the shower and removed my clothing. The shower felt good, but also hurt like burned my cuts. I made sure to scrub all the dirt off, and all my cuts carefully. My hands and leg had tiny beads of blood on them, as I got out of the shower, and I knew I was going to be in trouble for getting them on my towel. Suddenly, I felt out of breath and overwhelmed, and tears started to pour out again. Even my run, which was supposed to clear my head, had back fired. It was like there was no escape.

I was apparently too lost in my panic attack to hear the knock on the door, or my mom entering with the first aid kit. It wasn't until she was kneeling in front of me, did I register her presence. I tried to reel back, but sitting on the toilet, there wasn't really anywhere for me to go. My mom eyed me, clearly analyzing me, but without saying anything, she reached down and started attending to my leg. Grateful, I reached next to me and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe my eyes and to blow my nose.

Once I had calmed down slightly, I suddenly became aware of how exhausted I was. "Does your ankle hurt?" Mom asked, as she placed the last band aid on my leg. My right leg was covered in various cuts, scrapes, and floor burns of sorts, but it was now covered in Neosporin and band aids. I looked down to my foot. My ankle hurt a little, but not as bad as I'd expected. I shrugged my shoulders but didn't answer. Mom eyed me, but didn't push. "You're icing it after this, and if it's swollen in the morning, I'm taking you to the doctor." With that she reached up and tucked the corner of the towel that I was holding to keep covered, into the edge around my chest, to make it stay up on its own.

My mom then grabbed both my hands, and started working on them. I winced and inhaled sharply when she put antiseptic ointment on them. The shock of everything had started to ware off, and I was to aware of how sore my body was. When my mom had finished bandaging both my hands, she stood up and leaned forward to grab my chin, careful not to touch the cut there. I pulled my face back hard, and glared.

Raising her eyebrows, she then reached back down and grabbed some gauze to clean/disinfect my face with. "You want to tell me what's going on Madelyn?" Her voice was firm, but quiet and filled with concern. I chanced a glance at her, but quickly averted my eyes. "I got in a fight with Ray and wanted to clear my head. I know it was reckless, I won't run in the forest, after dark, again." My voice was cold and flat, and the lie took me by surprise, but I kept my face blank. Mom let out a small sigh, put everything back in the first aid kit, and disposed of the garbage. She then grabbed my chin again, kissed my forehead, and started out of the bathroom. "Get dressed and ice your ankle. I need to start dinner."

I watched her walk away, my mind blank for once on what to do next. I shrugged to myself, and decided getting dressed was a good idea. I was cold in my towel and didn't really want Henry walking in on me just sitting there. Plus, if I sat there too long, I'd get pulled back into the never ending thoughts. No, the only good thing about my fall, was that I'm now more aware of my sore, aching, body, instead of the events that had happened. My muscles were already groaning, as I walked to my room. Great, the next few days were not going to be fun. That I could count on.


	13. That Still Small Voice: Chapter 2

**Happy Monday! Cheers to a new week! :o)**

* * *

"Dude, what happened to you?" Ray asked, as I slid into the booth across from her at Granny's. "Life." I grumbled.

"That was deep," came an amused voice from the doorway. I looked up to see Derrick walking into the diner. A smile instantly spread across my face, and I scooted over so he could sit next to me. "You look like you got into a fight with a weed-whacker," Derrick continued, as he plopped down next to me.

I gave him an unimpressed, amused, look, but explained my not-so-exciting adventure in the forest. "Wait, and your mom actually let you out of the house with a sprained ankle?" Ray asked in disbelief.

Looking down at my coffee and hash-browns I said, "well, she had to drop Henry off at Dr. Hopper's, so I just avoided her. Besides, it's just a little sore, so I doubt it's actually sprained. My leg and hands bother me way more." I said, as we all inspected the dark scrapes on my hands and wrists. I still had a couple band-aids on in some spots, but the others were starting to scab slightly. They were still bright red, where the skin was missing, as well as tender and raw, but… Shrugging, I decided to change the topic.

"Did you guys feel the rumble from the old mining tunnel?" I asked. That lead to a whole new conversation and away from anything about me. It was nice being with my friends. Being with them made me feel somewhat normal, and the craziness of my life was finally set aside. As we finished up our food, Ray gave some lame excuse about needing to head out, and then she was gone.

"Where are you headed?" Derrick asked, both of us becoming a little awkward without Ray as a buffer. "Uh, I guess home?" I had no where else to be, and I really should do some homework I decided. "Would it be alright if I walked you?" Derrick asked, somewhat shyly.

I rolled my eyes, but grabbed his hand in mine as we started down the sidewalk. I'd had enough awkward, confusing, moments as of late, and this was something I could take control of, somewhat. After a few moments of walking, we both relaxed enough to start discussing the latest gossip at school, sports teams we were rooting for, and our mutual dislike of writing history papers. "I don't know though… I think I'm more worried about our Pre-calc test next week." Derrick admitted, as we reached the path up to my house.

"We could study together if you want?" I suggested, as we reached the front step. "Wait, really? That'd be awesome, cause I'm pretty sure I wont be allowed to play basketball if I fail it."

"Ewww, I didn't realize I was dating a jock." I said teasingly. "Ha, Ha, Ha," Derrick said drily, but he had a smile on his face. We were silent for a moment, and I was about to say goodbye, when he gave me a serious look. "Maddie, I know I asked this before, but, like, are you okay?"

My eyebrows raised slightly, then furrowed together. I shook my head, and then looked at him. "I'm not sure." I said honestly, "my family is a little crazy right now." I shrugged, "I'll be fine though." I said, putting on a smile. I kissed him on the cheek, and turned to walk in the house. Without looking back I said, "come over tomorrow afternoon and we'll start prepping for out test."

* * *

I'd been working on my homework, watching Grey's anatomy, when the house phone started to ring. It was my mom's office, according to the caller ID, so I considered not answering, but knew that'd end badly. "Hello?" I reluctantly said into the phone.

"Madelyn, I'm going to have to work late. There's leftovers in the fridge for you and Henry to eat for dinner." I decided to investigate said leftovers, to see if I needed to dibs anything before Henry. As I walked into the kitchen I said, "okay, what time is Henry supposed to be home?" I stopped at the sight in front of me. The snack cupboard was torn apart, and there was a bunch of stuff on the counter. A confused looked spread over my face, as I processed what mom was saying, "What do you mean? He's supposed to be home already."

"Uh… Mom, he's not here, and by the looks of the candy stash, he's not planning to be home for awhile." There was a click on the other end of the phone. "Mom? Hello?… Wow rude. Don't even say bye." I clicked off the handset, and bit my lip, taking in the mess in front of me. "Henry, what are you doing now?" I asked myself. Suddenly, I remembered what he said about the mines. "Son of a… Damnit Henry," I thought, as realization dawned on me.

Even though my body protested, I ran to put on shoes, and took off for the mining tunnels.

* * *

I finally reached the mines, my eyes scanning all the activity. There was already another crowd of people, but I spotted Emma instantly. "Emma!" I called, as I made my way down into the crater, that the entrance of the mine sat in. Emma had been watching the men remove some rocks, but she turned, and came to meet me. "What's happening?" I asked, as I saw my mom approaching with a furious look.

"Henry's in the tunnel. Archie went in after him, when the entrance collapsed." Her voice was laced with worry and concern.

"They're trapped in there?!" I exclaimed, turning to verify that this was true with my mom. Her face softened slightly, but not much. "Yes." She said tightly, while grabbing my upper arm firmly, "and I don't want you down here. It's not safe. Ms. Swan, do your job." My mom barked, starting to drag me back up the side, to the cars.

"Ow, let go." I snapped, yanking my arm from her grasp. She turned ready to scold me, when more rumbling occurred. When it stopped, mom took-off, back down towards the entrance, yelling, "Stop! You're making it worse!" I could hear the argument that ensued between my mom and the blonde. Emma yelled something indicating that Henry went into the mine, simply to get proof against my mom.

My heart dropped. Proof. This was all about proof. The picture. If I'd just talked to him about the picture, none of this would have happened. Guilt instantly settled in my stomach, as well as panic and worry. "Henry… I believe you. Please make it out of this okay." I whispered quietly, while crossing my fingers, and willing the fates to watch over my little brother.

* * *

I felt useless. There was nothing I could do, and since trying to blow up the entrance with dynamite, which did nothing, mom prohibited me from being anywhere near the mine. It was clear she was slightly hysterical with worry, so I stayed clear of her and the workers. Part of me wished Henry could see her like this, Fairy Tale drama aside, it was very clear that our mother did love, and care about him.

Her willingness to even let Emma be the one to go down the mine shaft, showed she cared more about Henry's safety, than anything else. Since I was avoiding the emotions within me, and watching the cord drop Emma lower and lower into the mine, was making my head spin, I studied my mom. She looked frantic with worry. All kinds of emotions showed on her face, more than I'd ever seen.

Mom. My mom. The woman who gave birth to me. Who made us dinner and a ridiculous amount of apple fritters, with her stupid red apples. I've known her my whole life, and in this moment, I realized I knew basically nothing about her. Who were her parents? My grandparents? Where'd she grown up?

How had I never noticed, just how much out life didn't add up. I mean, I still don't necessarily think my mom is the "Evil Queen," but I also had no idea who she truly was.

All kinds of questions started running through my head, when I noticed a new commotion had started. Looking at the shaft, I realized everyone was excitedly standing around it. I jumped up from my spot by my mom's car and ran over, just as Sheriff Grant triumphantly said Emma had both, Dr. Hopper and Henry.

I stood there anxiously waiting with everyone else, while the crane and workers, carefully pulled the three people from the hole. Dr. Hopper appeared to have a cut on his head, but from what I could tell, both him and Henry looked otherwise unharmed. Mom immediately grabbed Henry, and pulled him into a hug. I worked my way around the crowed, to meet them by the ambulance. Once there, I gave Henry a relieved smile when he saw me, and as the paramedic started checking over him. After he was cleared, I pulled him into a fierce hug.

"I'm fine." Henry said in a groan, but quickly followed by a laugh. My mom grabbed his shoulders and turned him away from me. "Don't ever do that again. Do you hear me?" She asked him sternly, her eyebrow raising to show she was serious. I smiled slightly, knowing what was going through Henry's mind at that look. The boy nodded his head and said, "I'm sorry, mom" as she pulled him into another brief hug. Then, she straightened and looked to both of us. "I need to go attended to somethings regarding the mine. Stay over here, and I'll be back shortly to take us home."

Once she had walked away, I faced my brother. "Henry, I..." I'd just started, when Emma walked up to us, and pulled Henry into hug. "Kid." Was all she said, as she took in her son. I watched his birth mom look him over, as Henry stood there simply letting her inspect him. He was so different with her.

It was then that I decided tonight I'd show Henry the picture. Talk to him, tell him I really truly believed that something wasn't right about Storybrooke.

* * *

Driving home, everything was much calmer. All of us were clearly relieved that the day had ended on a good note and even mom seemed to be more relieved, than angry. There was no yelling upon our arrival to the house. She simply ushered Henry in, and got him in the shower, since he was covered in dirt. Then she went to warm up dinner.

While she was in the kitchen, I headed upstairs, deciding this was my opportunity to grab the picture. I was trying to imagine Henry's reaction over my discovery, when I realized that the picture was missing from its spot on the dresser. I whirled around, searching for it in my mother's room. It had to be here. It was always here.

"Can I help you find something?" Came my mom's inquisitive, sharp voice from her doorway. I looked at her, my eye's slightly wild. "The picture.. the one on your dresser?" I pointed to where the picture always sat. I was confused, suspicious, and furious all at the same time. My mom's eye narrowed slightly, then she simply said, "I accidentally knocked it over getting ready this morning. It broke, so I threw it out. Why do you want it, Madelyn?"

She asked the question plainly, but I could tell there was suspicion behind it. My mind was buzzing, but I took a breath and squared my shoulders. I needed to keep my composure. "Ray… Ray and I were reminiscing about how awkward we looked at 12, and that picture was a perfect example of me at that age. Since I had on Grumpy the dwarf shirt, and still parted my hair down the middle." I shrugged, hoping we could drop this. "Guess I'll have to find a different one." I used the same, plain tone of voice she used on me. "Is dinner ready? I'll go get washed up." I said, as I started out of the room.

My mom stood, with her arms crossed, but as I approached her by the door, she dropped them and grabbed one of my shoulders with a tender hand. She had a searching look on her face and it instantly made me uncomfortable. She was eying me intently, but I kept myself from flinching away. "Glad you and Ray apparently worked out your disagreement." She said, not breaking eye contact.

My face scrunched in confusion. "Huh?" I asked.

"The reason you were so upset yesterday?" The questioning in her voice reminded me of what I had told her in the bathroom. She was clearly testing me, and letting me know she wasn't buying what I was saying. "Oh... yeah, well nothing like a mine clasping to put life into perspective." I said, still holding her gaze. Mom's lips pursed slightly, but she suddenly smiled at me, her fake Mayor smile that indicated she was up to something.

"Good, good. You two have been friends for so long and with everything going on, friends are important." She lifted her hand and touched my face lightly. The gesture normally would have been a loving one, but instead, it made my skin crawl. "I couldn't help but notice, is there a reason you're not wearing this?"

She cocked her head slightly with this question, her eye's clear and quizzical. I looked down to realize she was holding my locket in her hand. My chest tightened, as it was getting harder and harder to keep my face blank. All I wanted to do was squirm out of her grip and go hide away in my bed. "I… I was worried the chain was wearing down. I wear it a lot… so..." I trailed off. I'd lost some of the confidence in my voice and even I could hear how weak the lie was.

She held it up, as if inspecting it, and then gave me a reassuring smile. "It looks okay to me." She said, as she reached out and placed it around my neck. My body froze and all I could do is stand there while she put it on me. "I'll look for a new chain, but I'd hate for you stop wearing it. Your grandfather gave it to me when I was young, and I, in turn, gave it to you, just before he passed away. It fits you so well." She patted my cheek lightly, after she'd fastened the clasp behind my neck, and kissed my forehead. She looked back down at the locket, now around my neck, then said, "Please tell your brother dinner is ready." With that, she turned, heading back down the stairs.

When Henry eventually emerged from the bathroom, pajamas on, I was still standing in the doorway to our mom's room. He stopped in front of me, waving his hand in my face, to get my attention. "What are you doing?" He questioned, once I looked down to him. He looked past me, to peer into our mom's room, then looked back at me trying to figure out what I was doing. I, too, looked back behind and then looked at him. "Uh.. I don't remember…" I looked around again, "What had I been doing?" I thought to myself.

The smell of food suddenly reached my nose. "Oh, mom asked me to get you for dinner. Food is ready."

"Oh good. I'm starving." Henry said, turning so we could walk down the stairs together. "Mining is hard work." Henry said, giving me a cheeky smile. I nudged him, while rolling my eyes, and then grabbed him in a side hug, as we started down to the kitchen. I sure did love this kid, and even though he was a pain in the butt, eating leftovers and being with my little family sounded like a good way to end this crazy day.


	14. The Shepard: Chapter 1

**Happy Friday! So, this is an entire episode. I tried breaking parts down, but it just became too dragged out, and I like the content of the next episode better. Cheers to the weekend! :o)**

* * *

"Noxious… Come on Mads you know this! Noxious… Oh! Harmful, poisonous, lethal." I turned the index-card over in my hand and silently praised myself for getting the definition correct. "Okay, next one. Plaudit. Psh. Easy – a statement giving strong praise."

"What are you studying for?" Looking up, I took in Emma standing before me. "Oh, umm. Just SAT prep. I figure you can't be overly prepared, so I carry around vocab flashcards to study at things like this." I waved my hand, indicating to David Nolan's party. He and his wife had yet to arrive, so everyone was standing around awkwardly.

Emma gave me a disgusted look. "Your brother is right, you're a nerd." Her voice was teasing and there was a smile on her face, so I smiled back her and shrugged. "Speaking of your brother, I see him by the entry way, I'm going to go talk to him. Have fun studying." I watched the blonde walk away and then took in the room.

My mom, Henry, and I had be the first ones here and Henry and I had taken bets on how many people would show. As I looked around the room, it was clear my younger brother had won the bet. The house was pretty full of Storybrooke community members. "Does Mr. Nolan really know all these people?" I wondered to myself. I mean, I didn't even know most of these people and my mom is the mayor. It was just then that David and Kathryn arrived. I quickly realized I was right, Mr. Nolan didn't know anyone, as he was being introduced to those around him.

I looked around again, and caught my mother waving to me from the kitchen. Standing, I placed my flashcards in my back pocket and made my way through the crowd. As I was about to enter the kitchen, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I read the message from Ray. " _Derrick, Chris, and I are going star gazing tonight. You in?"_

I could hear my mother's voice, talking to Kathryn Nolan, and I knew there was no way she'd let me leave this party to hang out with my friends. Sneaking out wasn't an option, but I wanted to go. I huffed a sigh, and slide my phone in back into my pocket. Pretending I hadn't seen the message was easier than making a decision, or letting Ray down.

Kathryn passed me heading out to the party, as I entered the kitchen. It turns out, my mother summoned me simply to have me take more food out to the guests. I had made two laps around the house, when I finally decided to hideout with Emma and Henry. I heard Henry asking Mr. Nolan about swords earlier, when I'd walked past them, and I'd hoped they'd moved onto a new topic.

Luckily, he and Emma were simply sitting on the couch talking about school, as I sat next to my brother. Kathryn was walking away, and both Henry and the blonde grabbed the last of the horderves on my serving tray. "You owe me five bucks." Henry mumbled out, his mouth full of cracker and cheese.

I rolled my eyes, but promised to pay him when we got home. My phone started vibrating again, but I ignored it. "Are you going to get that?" Henry asked, as we both looked down to where my phone was vibrating the seat beneath us. Pulling it out, I saw three more messages from Ray. "Hello?" "Dude, come on! I know you're just at that boring party." "Mads? Maddie? Madelyn? Answer me!"

"Whoa, someone is popular." Emma joked. I read the messages, and went to place my phone back in my pocket, as Henry asked, "Why aren't you talking to Ray?"

I shrugged, "mom asked me to help out here tonight, and Ray knows that. I'm not going to sneak out, and we both know mom won't let me go."

"I won't let you go where?"

The three of us looked up to see my mom approaching us from the kitchen. My eyes widened slightly, as both Henry and Emma made an excuse about needing punch, and left me to answer my mother. "Oh… ummm… Well, Ray, Derrick, and Chris are going star gazing and wanted me to come." I said with a shrug.

"Stargazing where?" My mother asked, eying me slightly. "Down at the docks." I replied hesitantly, confused as to if this was a trap.

She pursed her lips slightly, then said, "Go. Be home by 9:30 and keep your phone on you." I looked at her surprised. "But… Mr. Nolan's party?" I said, and indicated to the people behind us.

"If you want to stay that's your choice, but we both know you'd rather be elsewhere. Yes?" I nodded once, as she continued, "You have brought your grades back up, and have been honest with me as of late. So go. Have fun. Don't miss curfew." She started to turn back to the kitchen, but faced me again, "and grab your jacket out of the car."

She didn't need to tell me a third time I could go. I jumped up and headed out the door, as I shot Ray a reply, " _on my way!"_

* * *

"No. No way. I don't care what you say. Snap is and will _always_ be a douche bag! Harry was an idiot for naming his kid after him." I could very clearly hear my friends arguing over Harry Potter, as I turned to walk down the ramp, to the dock. They were in our usual spot, the furthest dock out. It was the creepy, dark, one that had a broken light, so it was caste in pitch black. I made my way down the metal ramp, grateful that the bottom had slip resistant spikes.

Once I got to the landing, I decided to make my presence known. "It's true. Harry and Ginny could have picked _way_ better names other than Albus and Severus. I mean, Remus, Hagrid, Tonks, Sirius… So many other names had more meaning." I finished my statement, as I sat down, completing the square of people on the dock.

"See, at least Mads knows what's up!" Said Chris, as he gave me a fist bump. Although I couldn't see them, I was pretty sure both Ray and Derrick rolled their eyes at this. "Whatever." Said Ray, clearly ready to move onto a new topic. "So, how'd you escape?" She questioned me.

"Oh, my mom actually gave me permission to leave." I replied back, as I pulled my phone out to make sure the volume was on, then shoved it back in my pocket. "Wait, you actually told her what we were doing?" Ray sounded both surprised, and almost irritated.

"Not exactly. She overheard me talking to Henry, and told me I could come. What's the big deal?" I asked, confused by her tone of voice. "We're just glad you made it." Derrick cut in, as he reached out and grabbed my hand, and intertwined his fingers with mine. "By the way, I totally got a B- on the pre-calc exam. I couldn't have managed it without your amazing tutoring skills." He said, as he leaned over to give me a kiss.

"Ewww. Really, guys? I just ate a bunch of Doritos and don't need them coming back up." Chris said, as he made gagging sounds. Laughing, I shot back, "You can't even see us! It too dark, you dork!"

We settled into comfortable chatter, occasionally stopping to point out a shooting star here and there. I had to admit, it was nice being with my friends again. I hadn't spent much time around them due to school, and playing catch up. Plus, my mom had been having me come by her office after school most days to do some filing for her. One of the office ladies was out due to a family issue, so I was filling in temporarily. I didn't really mind, I was getting paid for it.

* * *

The next morning, I'd just finished my morning run, and was walking up to the back door. I could see my mom and Henry talking inside, as my mom served what looked to be her apple-cinnamon French toast. Opening the door, they both shot me a quick glance, and then continued their banter. "Henry, I said no." He was about to say something back, but mom cut him off, and turned her attention to me. "Sit, eat." She said, as she placed a plate in front of the stool, next to Henry's.

Henry decided he wasn't done arguing about whatever it was they were discussing, and ignored my presence all together. "It'd be an hour tops." He whined. "What are you talking about?" I asked, as I took a seat on the bar-stool and picked up my fork. "Nothing." My mom snapped, as she shot Henry a warning glance.

"I need to get to work. I want the dishes washed before you both leave for school. Got it?" Mom said, as she turned to wash her hands, and get ready to leave. "Madelyn, there's more filing for you to do after school."

I chewed the bite in my mouth and then replied, "Okay." I could feel Henry squirming next to me, as he gave me a bewildered look, but didn't say anything. Instead he huffed out an irritated sigh, and picked at his breakfast.

* * *

" _March 2010"_ Read the tab on the file in my hand. I opened the appropriate file drawer and was skimming through it, to locate the appropriate place, when Henry walked into the room.

"What are you doing?" Henry asked, stopping next to me, and crossed his arms. "Finishing the filing mom gave me." I replied, as I closed the drawer and picked up the next file.

"No. Not that. With mom? Why are you acting all weird again?"

I put the file down and turned to face my brother. "What are you talking about?"

"You've become her servant or something." He said, in a serious, slightly accusing, voice. "You never want to help with Operation Cobra and you're always doing everything to please her. Why?"

"Henry," I sighed, as I turned to move to the opposite set of filling cabinets. "Maddie," He said back in the same tone as mine.

"Look, I need to finish this, and then I have a lot English reading to do tonight. Leave me alone, okay? You want to be annoyed with mom for dragging us here after school, that's your problem." I shot at him, done with his whinny outbursts.

Henry just stared at me, looking slightly hurt, before he turned a stomped out. I didn't bother look at him as he left, instead, I picked up the last of the files to put away. If he wants to keep getting in trouble, time and time again, that's his issue. He can dig his own grave. I'd decided I was done being dragged into it.

* * *

There was a soft knock on my door. I set my book down on my lap, as I looked up to see my mom entering. "Henry's asleep and it's time for you to go to bed as well." She said, as she walked in, and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Can I read just one more chapter?" I asked, picking my book back up and looking at the little more I had to finish for the night. "Nope, bed." She said, as she grabbed the book from my hands, and placed it on the end table. Then she grabbed at the blankets and pulled them away from me, so I could scoot down and get comfortable.

Laying down, I looked up at her. "Why are you so happy?" I asked, seeing the glint in her eyes that hadn't been there in a while. "I just had a good day at work, and it sounds like my friend Kathryn and her husband are working things out." She said, reaching up to tuck some of my hair behind my ear. "Now sleep." She commanded.

I rolled my eyes, and turned on my side getting comfortable. I huffed out a goodnight, as my mom bent down and kissed me on the cheek. As soon as she left the room, I felt myself smiling into darkness. Closing my eyes, I quickly drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Finally at ease that everything was back to normal.


	15. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: Chapter 1

**I hope everyone had a good start to their week! Life is crazy, but I'm hopefully back for a bit. Thanks for staying with me! Cheers! :o)**

* * *

" _Come on, let's go say good-bye."_

 _Elizabeth looked up at her sister from her window seat. Snow's face showed sorrow, heartbreak, and endless pain and sadness. Elizabeth's, on the other hand, was blank and void of any emotion. Snow held out her hand to the younger girl, but Elizabeth just stared back, before turning back to her window overlooking the grounds._

" _You have to acknowledge what it going on, Beth." Snow said gently, her voice strained from trying not to cry._

" _Don't call me that." Elizabeth bit at her sister, as she whirred around to face Snow, again. Elizabeth's face was full of anger and pain. Beth had been what her father called her, and now he was dead._

" _I don't want to see his dead body just lying there. Go without me."_

" _Elizabeth..." Snow tried one more time. Elizabeth swallowed the lump in her throat, but turned back to the window. She couldn't do this. She couldn't say good-bye to her father, her hero._

 _Snow walked over and hugged Elizabeth's stiff body, before turning and walking out. Elizabeth could feel the walls building within her. The pain was too much, so she swallowed back the tears, the feelings, the grief. How would this work, it being just her, Snow, and her mother?_

 _Her father's laugh wouldn't echo down that halls. No one would take her riding through the forest. No more presents from his trips through the lands. The bear hugs, she wouldn't get another giant bear hug from him ever again._

 _Elizabeth shook her head. Maybe she should say good-bye. Her heart tore at the idea, but the girl still stood and headed to the viewing room. As she was walking down the corridor, she could hear Snow and her mother's grief stricken voices._

" _I'm so sorry, Snow." Came Regina's soothing voice. "I loved him so much."_

 _Elizabeth froze in the shadows of the hall. She hadn't seen Regina since the servants found the King. The girl had refused to leave her room. She figured, if she didn't leave, then maybe she'd wake up and realize it was all just a bad dream, but the voices down the hall made reality hit Elizabeth like a troll plowing through a field. Snow's break down, Regina's sorrow..._

 _Elizabeth backed against the wall. She couldn't do this. Her mother's voice had been too much. Suddenly, she felt like someone had punched her in the gut and her knees gave out. Elizabeth slid down the wall and shoved her skirt into her mouth to muffle any sounds that tried to escape. Her body was trembling, not sure how to react to the swarm of emotion trying to rush out. He was gone. Father was really gone._

* * *

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I staggered into the kitchen. Mom was reading the newspaper at the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee cradled in her hands. I was surprised to find her still in her pajamas and bathrobe. Usually, she'd be dressed by now.

"Morning." I mumbled, as I walked to the cupboard and pulled the cinnamon toast crunch out. "How about something healthier, please?" Mom replied as a way of greeting. She casually turned a page of the newspaper, "There's oatmeal in the fridge."

I let out a tired sigh, but returned the cereal to the cupboard and made my way to the refrigerator. Upon inspection, I quickly located the bowl of overnight oats and pulled them out. I made myself a small bowl, and popped it in the microwave.

"You're supposed to eat them cold." Mom stated, as the smell of cinnamon and apples filled the air.

I simply shrugged, as I stared into the microwave, watching my bowl turn in small circles. Then I remembered, "Was someone here last night?" I asked, changing the topic from my breakfast choice. "No, why?" Mom said back coolly.

"I thought I heard you talking to someone..." I'd woken up at one point, and could have sworn I heard a man's muffled voice coming from my mom's room last night. Mom looked up at me from her bent position over the paper and as she straightens she said, "I left the TV on down stairs on accident. That was probably what you heard."

"Oh," was all I said back. That made sense, the TV did carry voices weirdly up the stairs. I retrieved my oatmeal and sat the counter across from my mom. Staring at my food, I had no energy to eat it. I shouldn't be this tired, I thought to myself, as Henry came bounding into the kitchen, already dressed and perky as ever.

"Good morning." Mom said to him as she went to the fridge and pulled the oatmeal out to fix him a bowl. "Eat up," She stated, as plopped Henry's bowl in front of him and left the kitchen to get ready for the day.

Henry sniffed the oatmeal, then looked back towards the stairs, and cocked his head to listen. I faintly heard mom's door close after a second, and with that Henry hopped off his stool with his bowl, walked over to the sink, and dumped the oatmeal down the drain while running the garbage disposal.

He then walked to the cupboard and pulled out the Cinnamon Toast Crunch that I'd tried to eat 20 minutes earlier. "Want some?" Henry asked, as he retrieved a new bowl. I looked down at my oatmeal, and then back up at him. "Hook a sista up!" I said, as I jumped off my stool and disposed of my own gross oatmeal.

* * *

"No, it was 1-15 for the pre-calc homework, 1-10 for the history worksheet, and 5-15 for the English review sheet." I explained to Ray as we walked down the hall.

"Crap!" Ray huffed out next to me. "I did the wrong English questions. Ugh! Can I copy yours when we get to our table, please?"

"Sure." I said with a shrug.

"Oh, I think Chris, Derrick, and I are gong to Granny's after school." Ray continued, as we reached our lockers. I opened mine and pulled out my lunch bag. "When do you guys make all these plans?" I responded back.

"I just made them. The guys don't know yet, but they'll be there."

"Well, I won't be. I'm on Henry duty and I haven't finished my chores since I've been at the Mayor's office so much lately. Plus, I was too tired to go running this morning, so I need to do that."

"Mads, really? Come on. Henry's fine at home. Don't you want to hang with your friends and boyfriend?" Ray said jokingly, but also had a serious glint to her stare.

"I do, but I have responsibilities. End of discussion." I said a little sharply.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Ray snapped at me. "One second you're like a normal teenager and then you go right back to having a stick up your ass and acting like 'Mommy's pet.' Whatever. Fine, don't hang with us."

My mouth dropped. "What the hell, Ray? A little harsh much? I hang with all of you all the time. Sorry I have a mom that has expectations for me and sorry I want to be a good daughter."

"Excuse you?! My parents trust me enough actually let me be my own person. Every time you try, your mom tightens her reins on you and you don't even bat an eye."

"I'm not arguing with you about this. You're over stepping and you know it." Why the heck was Ray so irritated that I didn't want to go to Granny's? This was stupid. "I'm your best friend, it's my job to over step and call you out." Shaking my head, I turned to walk away from Ray, knowing that if I stayed a full blown argument would happen.

"Why are you wearing your locket again?" Ray called to me. I'd made it only about ten steps away, but I stopped and turned to face her. "What are you talking about?" I asked, genuinely confused. "I've never taken it off."

Ray looked at me with a surprised look, that turned to confusion. She looked like she was about to say something but I cut her off. "I'm not doing this." I thought to myself. "You know what, find someone else to let you copy their homework." With that I turned to storm out of the building.

I had only made it around the corner when the sheriff walking into Ms. Blanchard's classroom caught my eye. Sheriff Graham… Gears were turning in my head, and suddenly the voice form early this morning clicked. Sheriff Grant had been in my mom's room. That's the voice I'd heard, not the TV. My mom was sleeping with the Sheriff.

My stomach turned, and I threw my lunch into the nearest garbage can. Today was just awesome.


	16. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: Chapter 2

_**Enchanted Forest:**_

" _Beth. Beth, wake up." Elizabeth groggily sat up in her bed. Her room was pitch black, but she could feel her sister sitting on the edge of her bed. "Beth, you awake?" Snow whispered._

" _Ugh, I am now. What, Snow?" Elizabeth whined in an annoyed voice. She did not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night._

" _I need to tell you something." Came Snow's urgent whispering. Elizabeth sat up further, Snow's urgent tone finally registering in her brain._

" _What? Is everything okay?" Panic was starting to take over the younger girl._

 _There was a pause before Snow said, "Yes. Yes, everything is fine. I just needed to tell you that I love you and you're the best younger sister I could ever ask for."_

 _The sincerity in Snows voice kept Elizabeth from scoffing at this confession of love in the middle of the night. Since their father's death, Snow had been acting strange. Elizabeth rolled her eyes to herself, but said "I love you, too. Now can I go back to sleep?"_

 _Snow suddenly pulled Elizabeth into a tight hug. "Just remember everything will be okay and never give up hope."_

" _Snow… What is going on?" Elizabeth was starting to worry. Snow cleared her throat and reassured her younger sister that everything indeed was fine. "Remember who you are, Elizabeth. And remember I'll always be there for you."_

 _After one more tight hug, Snow stood from the bed. Elizabeth waited until the door to her room shut before laying back down. Sighing she rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep. "This family is weird, that's for sure." was her last thought as she drifted back to sleep._

* * *

" _What do you mean she left?" Elizabeth asked Regina. Tears forming in her eyes as she tried to understand how her sister could up and just walk out. "I'm sorry dear, Snow wasn't who we thought she was."_

" _What are you talking about? She's my sister, your daughter!"_

 _A dark look crossed Regina's face at these words. "Step-Daughter." Regina corrected, "and sometimes those we love hurt us the worst."_

" _No, she wouldn't leave me. Not without a good-bye. I don't understand..." Elizabeth was confused and hurt. She adored Snow. Everyone did. Suddenly she realized that the night before had been a goodbye. That's why her sister had woken her in the middle of the night. Elizabeth felt terrible. She should have stopped her. She should have realized something truly was wrong. The lump in her throat became even bigger._

" _I didn't want to tell you this, but Snow was behind your father's death. She's not who you think she is, love. She's not to be trusted."_

 _The younger girl's eyes whipped to meet her mother's. This couldn't be true, but Regina's dark brown eyes held sadness and empathy. The tears filled Elizabeth's gray eye's finally spilled over. First her father and now sister. Half her family was gone in such little time and her heart was breaking all over again._

 _Regina pulled the girl into her and comforted her daughter, while her face instantly hardened and a puckish smile appeared on her lips. Her daughter cried into her shoulder. "There, there, my girl. I'm here. I'll always be here for you. I promise you Snow will not get away with what she's done."_

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

School had lasted forever and I honestly couldn't wait to get home so I could go for a run and clear my head. Entering the front door, I called out, "Henry, I'm home!"

Dropping my bag by the stairs, I went to the kitchen to grab a banana. Heading back to the stairs, I paused when I registered voices coming from abover. "Who on earth is Henry talking to?" I wondered to myself.

Picking up my backpack, I started up. As I got to the landing, I instantly recognized the Sheriff's voice. "What the hell is going on?" I said to myself.

"She never wants you to be able to feel again." Came Henry's sympathetic, but serious little voice. Shaking my head, I started toward the end of the hall. Just as I got to my brother's door, Sheriff Graham came out. We literally collided, causing me to stagger back slightly. "Whoa, Sheriff, are you okay?"

Sheriff Graham looked at me, but it was like he wasn't actually seeing me. "Sorry, I need to go. Sorry." Was all he said as he continued past me. "Uh, weird." I thought as I turned to confront Henry.

"What was that all about?" I asked walking into my little brother's room. He had the storybook on his lap, and was flipping through the pages.

Henry looked up at me as I entered. "He's remembering who he is. He kissed Emma."

I felt my eyes widen. "He kissed the blonde and you're okay with it?" I asked in disbelief. The younger boy simply shrugged, but now my head was spinning. How did this all work? My mom, Emma, the Sheriff. On second thought, I realized I didn't want to know anymore.

"This town is way too small." I muttered to myself. "I'm going for a run. Make sure you start your homework." I said to Henry, as I turned to go to my room to change. I threw my bag on my bed and fished out my phone. The flashing blue light indicated I had a message, so I pushed to button and the screen lit up.

 _Ray: Can we talk? Please?_

I gently threw my phone next to my bag. I wasn't figuring anything out until I cleared my head, so I quickly changed, and then shot my mom a message telling her I was going running and where exactly I'd be.

* * *

I was replaying mine and Ray's conversation in my head as I turned down the main street of town. It was just over three miles if I looped around the town and went back to my house. I was so caught up in my thoughts, the I almost didn't see Ms. Blanchard coming out of the post office in time.

Quickly, I jumped around her, but caused her to drop her purse, and me to dive into side of the post office building. An "oofff" escaped my lips at my abrupt stop, but other than that I was okay. "Oh my, Maddie are you alright?" Came Ms. Blanchard's concerned voice from next to me.

I straighten up, and pushed myself off the building. "Yeah," I said as I turned to face her. "I'm sorry for running into you, are you okay?" I asked in response. Ms. Blanchard was bending to pick up her purse, but as she stood, she smiled at me. "I'm fine."

I let out a breath and then looked up and down the street. When my eye's went back to Ms. Blanchard, she was still staring at me, her head slightly cocked. "What?" I asked, surprised by her look.

"You look like you need to talk." I was about to protest when she gently asked, "How about some hot chocolate?"

I had no idea why, but I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to talk to someone who wasn't wrapped up in my family and friend drama. I nodded to her, but then blurted, "but we can't go to Granny's!"

Ms. Blanchard let out a chuckled, but turned in the direction of her apartment. I'd never been to a teacher's house and this seemed weird, and yet, I followed.

* * *

The hot cocoa in front of me smelled and looked delicious. "Henry's right, the cinnamon is a nice touch." I said, giving Ms. Blanchard a shy smile.

"I'm glad you think so. Now, want to tell me what is going on?"

I thought for a minute. "Why did the Sheriff stop by your classroom?" The question clearly took her by surprise. "Oh, that. He.. He had a question... How did you know he'd come by?"

I proceeded to explain the day's events, even the part about realizing my mom was sleeping with the Sheriff. "It's not that I think my mom's a nun or anything. I mean she had me… I just. I'm surprised is all. And totally grossed out."

Ms. Blanchard laughed, but then faced me and gave me a sympathetic look. "It can't be easy being the Mayor's kid." My eyes drifted down to the table in front of me, and locked onto my mug. I was tired of people saying this to me. "There's nothing wrong with following the rules, being a good kid, and trying to help your mom." She paused until my eyes met hers, "but Ray might be right, too. Having fun, being a kid... that's what this time of your life is about." I started to protest, but Ms. Blanchard held up a hand. "I'm not saying you should sneak out, lie to your mom, or become a rebel. Your brother has that down enough for the both of you." I smiled at this. "What I am saying is stop putting so much pressure on yourself. You're a good kid, Maddie."

I was lost as to what to say, so I took a sip of the cocoa. "I'm sorry, too." My eye's shot to hers in surprised. "Sorry about what?" I asked genuinely confused. "I never expected that book to do all of this." She said, with a tight smile.

"Oh…" I sighed, "I both love and hate that book." I admitted. "Henry has become a totally different kid since you gave it to him. He went from being sad, lonely, and miserable to being lively, mischievous, and hopeful… with a hint of crazy. I just wish he'd realize he's gone too far into this whole fairy tale thing. When I got home this afternoon he was explaining to the Sheriff who he was in the storybook."

I shook my head. "So you don't believe him?" Ms. Blanchard asked. I looked at her surprised. "Do you?" I shot back. "It's a book. A storybook about fairy tales! All of this is absurd!" My voice had risen and I shot to my feet to start pacing. "Maddie, I didn't mean to upset you." Ms. Blanchard said standing herself and holding her hands up in a stance of innocence.

"This is insane." I said, the agitation evident in my voice. "Look, let's sit back down and we can talk about something else." She tried to reason with me.

"I shouldn't even be talking to you… You're my brother's teacher!" A humorless laugh escaped my lips. "Maybe I'm the crazy one."

"Look, Maddie, I know everything has... become strange around here, but as long as you stay true to yourself and always remember who you are, you'll be okay. And yes, I'm your brother's teacher, but I'll always be here for you. We're all connected now and I care about you."

A sense of Deja vu washed over me, but I simply nodded. I needed to get out of there. "Thank you." I said, trying to sound sincere. Ms. Blanchard really had been very kind to me. I looked around the room one more time, and then turned to leave. However, something pulled at me and I turned back. "Can I hug you?"

I felt ridiculous asking, but I felt connected to Ms. Blanchard, and she was so inviting and warm. A smile instantly spread across her face at my question. She quickly made her way over to me and enveloped me into a hug. She smelled of honey and cinnamon, and she seemed so… familiar.

After our hug, I thanked her again and headed out. I made my way home at a brisk walk, knowing that if I tried to run with a stomach full of cocoa I'd probably throw up.

* * *

Once I'd made it home, I quickly showered and changed. Laying on my bed, I stared at my phone. Eventually, I typed: _Sorry I was such a jerk. Let's talk tomorrow. Love you, Ray._

Taking a deep breath, I hit send. I still didn't know which of us was in the wrong, but I knew acting like an angsty teenager wouldn't solve anything.

It was late, but I finally heard my mom come in the front door; so decided to ask her about hanging out with Ray tomorrow after school, before she went to bed.

I made my way downstairs, but instantly stopped when I made it to the door of the study. Peaking in, I could see my mother sitting behind the desk, an ice pack held to her face. She looked both furious and distraught. A shiver shot down my spine at the look on her face, and goose bumps formed on my skin. I quietly backed away from the study, and hurried back to my room. Something wasn't right, but something told me not to ask. Honestly, my mother looked down right murderous, and it terrified me.

An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach, but I couldn't figure out why. Laying in my bed, in the dark, I turned and knocked gently on the wall three times. After a couple of seconds, three quiet knocks came back and after a minute, I heard Henry quietly opening my door.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, as he walked in. "Want to sleep in here tonight?" I asked lamely, unable to voice my uneasiness. I could tell he shrugged in the dark, and then made his way over to my bed. Once he was settled in on the other side all he said was, "Night, Maddie."

I was grateful that he didn't ask questions. Today had been crazy, and weird. Very, very weird, but Henry made things seem normal. Safe even. After a moment I finally whispered back, "Good night, little brother."

* * *

 **My apologies for the name mix up with Sheriff Grant vs Graham. I know it's Graham, my laptop on the other hand does not. I finally went in and changed it in my personal dictionary. Again, my apologies and thanks to the reviewer that pointed it out!**


	17. Desperate Souls: Chapter 1

**Applying to grad school is waaaay more time consuming than I expected. Anyways, happy almost weekend! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

 _Andrew leaned in suddenly, and when his lips met Elizabeth's, she backed up in surprise. She looked at him wide eyed, then step towards him, again. Her lips crashing against his, causing them both to topple over and down the small embankment next to them._

 _There was the crushing of fall leaves, mild screams, and laughs until they both reached the bottom. Andrew was breathless, but in good spirit. "I guess you could say that kiss swept us off our feet." He chuckled, but when Elizabeth didn't respond, he sat up slightly. "You okay?" Andrew asked, a smile on his face and leaves in his hair, but the amusement quickly left his face. "Elizabeth?" He questioned as he took in her sober face, and her holding something in her hands. He sat himself up further, and scooted his way next to her through the dirt and leaves._

 _Tentatively, he placed a hand on her elbow. Her eyes snapped to him. They were filled with anger, pain, and confusion, then they looked back down to her hands. There sat the locket. The clasp broken and the chain mangled from the fall. "I remember." Elizabeth whispered out, her eyes looking back up to him._

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

"Boston, huh?"

I looked up from my excel sheet, to see Mr. Nolan standing next me. I smiled slightly, "Yeah, it's not too far away." I said with a shrug.

"That the only school you've looked at?" Mr. Nolan asked kindly.

"Uh, well no. There's a school in New York, one in California, Oregon, New England, and even Arizona. I mean, obviously I haven't actually visited any of them, but they have really good programs." I said, scrolling up and down the excel sheet, to show him my list of schools.

"However, Boston is my best bet." I said, ending my scrolling back on Northeastern University.

"All over the place, huh?" He asked with a small laugh. "Ah, well, I hear you're a bright student. I'm sure you can go anywhere you put your mind to."

His kind words took me by surprise. "Thank you, Mr. Nolan."

"Please, call me David. Madelyn, right?"

"Please, call me Maddie." I said with a smile. David held out his hand, "You've been in my house, and my wife is friends with your mother, but I'm not sure we've formally met. It's nice to meet you, Maddie."

I took his hand and shook it. "It's nice to formally meet you, too, David."

At this time, Ruby handed him two coffees to go. He thanked her, then turned back to me. "Is you mom okay?" He asked gently.

It had been two weeks since Sheriff Graham had died unexpectedly.

I shrugged again, "She's as good as anyone, I guess."

"Well, Kathryn is there for her. This town lost a good man."

All I could do was nod.

David bid me a farewell, and I watched him walk out to his wife in the car. In all honesty, things had kind of been in limbo since the Sheriff died, but not wanting to think about it, I turned back to my excel sheet. College, I needed to focus on colleges and getting out of this town.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

 _Regina had been gone a couple of days and Elizabeth was tired of being stuck in the palace. She was in her usual spot, on the balcony taking in the countryside, when something caught her attention. A boy, no, a man weaving in and out of the trees, and it looked like he had blood on him._

 _Elizabeth looked around, as if to reassure herself that this was happening. When her eyes scanned the edge of the forest, again, she could no longer see the mysterious man._

 _Her gut told her something wasn't right, but Elizabeth wasn't sure what to do. Mother was gone and grandfather had run to the market. The servants that were around made Elizabeth uneasy, and she didn't dare ask a guard, because that'd put the man at more risk._

 _No, she'd go see for herself. Elizabeth started down the corridor and then stopped. She wasn't to leave the palace. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she turned back to the balcony and peered to where she'd last seen the man. Movement further down the forest caught her attention. There he was, sitting against a tree. He was far away, and hard to see, but she was sure he was hurt._

 _Decision made, Elizabeth quickly ran to her room, changed into different clothing, and started down towards the dungeons. She'd have to sneak out. Luckily, when her mother was away, the palace tended to relax. The servants took time for themselves, and the guards always drank to pass the time._

 _Down in the dungeon, Elizabeth tried to remember where the servants entrance was. It had been so long since she'd been down here. Finally, she found the door that led under the courtyard and straight to the forest. With the Queen gone, the servants would be using the main entrance today, so the girl wasn't worried about running into anyone down here._

 _Once outside, Elizabeth had to orient herself. The tunnel had let out at a different location than she'd expected. Turning around, and squinting in the bright sunshine, she tried to locate her mother's balcony. Once she did, she started walking towards the edge of the forest, and the direction she'd last spotted the man._

 _She was glad she'd taken the time to change into dark pants and a basic white tunic top. Maneuvering through the tall grass, and edge of the forest, was more difficult than it looked from afar. She remembered basically melting through these settings as a child, but now she watched every step she took._

 _After some time, she realized she was around the area the man last was. With a careful eye, Elizabeth noted that the tree in front of her definitely looked like the one he'd been sitting against, but no one was there. She crouched down next to the tree to investigate. The was a little blood on the bark, and what looked to be a couple of peach pits on the ground. Elizabeth was about to stand back up, but suddenly, a hand clamped on her mouth and she was yanked back._

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

"Hey, how'd meeting Emma go?" I asked, as I reached Henry and slowed my pace to match his. He'd told me they were meeting before school, but hadn't told me what about.

Henry simply shrugged. "Hey, what's wrong?" I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, turning him to look at me. He looked so sad and… defeated. "Henry…"

"Why did you put your locket back on?" He asked in a sad tone, but it also had an edge to it, almost as if he knew something.

My hand automatically went to my neck line, and fingered the charm around it. "What do you mean?" I asked, my mind going back to Ray's comment, when we had our fight a few weeks ago. Henry let out a sad sigh, "she got you, too."

I was trying to understand his comment, as he turned and continued towards school. "Henry, wait." But he didn't stop, he just kept walking, his head down. Something tugged at my chest. I'd seen Henry down, a lot, but this, this was gut wrenching.

"Hi there, beautiful." Came Derricks voice, and he turned me and kissed me on the cheek. "May I walk with my amazing girlfriend to school?"

A smile spread across my face as I took his hand in mine. My mind already forgetting my worry over Henry. Over my necklace. "I'd like that, but only if I can walk with my handsome, boyfriend."

Gagging noises came from behind us, and we turned to see Chris pretending to be bent over, throwing up. I rolled my eyes at him, but Derrick stuck his tongue out, as Chris walked up to us. Chris continued to give us a hard time as the three of us continued on to school.

As we approached the front doors, I noticed a guy locking up his bike. Derrick followed my gaze and said, "Ugh, look at that Andrew kid over there. Seriously, he thinks he's such a hot shot."

"Is he new?" I asked. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. "No, he's a year ahead of us." Derrick explained.

"Yeah, he's the TA for my biology class, and he refuses to help any of us. It's annoying. I think he also works at the market after school."

"Wait, the TA you tried to convince to steal the first exam for you?" I asked, scoffing at Chris. He just shrugged at me with a sly smile. We were walking into the building, but I couldn't help but look back at him one more time. My breath caught slightly, my eyes locking with his. They were a startling green, and... familiar. I knew those eyes.

"Come on, Maddie. We're going to be late for math." Derrick said, pulling on my arm, and ushering me into school.

That uneasy feeling from my conversation with Henry returned, but now instead of worried, I felt as if I were forgetting something. And trees, I could very faintly smell trees. I looked around for the source, but we were walking past the cafeteria. I should smell fake, plastic food, not the forest.

Shaking my head, I tried my best to suppress the uneasy feel rising up within me. College. School. Getting out of here. That's what I wanted. Not more drama. "No drama, Maddie." I told myself, as my hand went to my locket. I turned my attention to whatever Derrick and Chris were discussing, as we enter our pre-calc class. I smiled. This is what mattered I told myself, even though I couldn't get those green eyes out of the back of my head.


	18. Desperate Souls: Chapter 2

**Ya'll are awesome and rock my world! Thank you for he reviews, feedback, and continued support. Happy Hump Day (Wednesday)/Thursday depending on your location. Cheers!**

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

 _Elizabeth bit down, hard, on the hand over her mouth. The person the hand belonged to yelled, but didn't loosen their grip. Suddenly, she was thrown to the ground, and when she rolled to look up, there stood the man she'd seen, standing above her, holding a bow and arrow pointed at her face._

 _Looking around, Elizabeth tried to process what was happening. "Who are you?" The man demanded. Elizabeth noted the blood seeping through his shirt, and the shake in his arms as he tried to hold the arrow._

 _Taking a breath, and steadying her voice, Elizabeth said, "I'm someone who saw that you were hurt and came to help you."_

 _Holding her hands so that he could see them, Elizabeth slowly sat up. "I saw you from a distance and came to see if you need anything?"_

 _The man eyed her skeptically, but the bow lowered slightly. "Saw me from where?" Elizabeth couldn't stop her eyes from cutting to the castle._

" _The Evil Queen's castle?" The man said in disbelief. "You snuck out of her castle just to come help me? You must have a death wish." He said, slightly amused, but also with a hint of skepticism._

 _Elizabeth simply held his gaze without further explanation. Eventually her shrugged, and dropped down next to her, the bow resting at his side. He grimaced, but didn't move further._

 _Elizabeth took him in, sitting next to her. He couldn't be much old than her, she realized. Her eyes moved to his side, where she took in the oozing, steady flow of blood._

" _What happened?" Elizabeth asked, moving so that she could get a better view._

" _Nothing, it's fine." The stranger said, moving and angling his body away from her._

" _Well your nothing and fine looks to be bleeding, steadily." When he still just stared at her, she said, "here, we need to bandage it." And turned to locate the small bag of supplies she had with her._

 _Finding her bag, she pulled out the small water pouch and clean cloths she'd brought. Turning back to the man, she looked at him expectantly, when he made no attempts to lift his shirt, she said, "are you going to lift your shirt, or should I rip it off?"_

" _Whoa now, I don't even know your name. Don't you think we're taking this a little fast?" The boy gave her a devilish grin._

 _Elizabeth tried her best to keep her face masked in a hard look, but she could feel the burning in her cheeks. Not letting the embarrassment stop her, she made to reach for his shirt. The stranger grabbed her hand, stopping her, and proceeded to lift the shirt off himself, grimacing, again, when he lifted his arms over his head. Once his torso was bare, Elizabeth set to work._

" _I'm Andrew, by the way." The boy said, trying to catch her eye._

" _It's infected pretty badly." Elizabeth said, by way of responding. She then pulled out a small bottle of whiskey and a bar of soap._

" _Are you always this prepared for emergencies?" Andrew asked, taking in the supplies and he sounding amused._

" _I was a bit of a daredevil as a child." Elizabeth said, as she poured a bit of water on the cut and her hands. "I quickly learned what supplies to always have on hand." She continued, as she lathered up the soap, and started to scrub the cut. Andrew hissed slightly, and clinched his teeth together._

 _Once she finished scrubbing the cut, Elizabeth rinsed in toughly with all the water she brought. When she made to grab the whiskey, Andrew again grabbed her hand stopping her._

" _I'm all for a drink, but what are you doing with that?"_

" _We need to disinfect it." Elizabeth said simply, pulling her hand from his, and uncapping the bottle._

 _After pouring the whiskey on the cut. Andrew sucked in another sharp breath and said, "were a daredevil, huh? What does that make you now?" Elizabeth ignored the question, and pick up the wraps to start bandaging the wound, as Andrew watched her work. Elizabeth had covered the cut with clean cloths, and had wrapped strips around his middle to hold it all in place, then handed him the rest of her supplies, and stood to leave._

" _Not bad, mysterious savior." He said smiling at the bandages, and then took in Elizabeth getting ready to leave. "Wait, please." Andrew said, trying to get to his feet without disturbing his new bandages._

" _Use the whiskey on it if it starts to look red a puffy. Keep the wound clean and use those bandages to keep it covered. It's not deep, just needs to stay clean to heal."_

" _No, I want to thank you. Why did you come all the way out here to help me?"_

" _As I said, I saw that you were hurt." Elizabeth's voice was curt._

 _Andrew smiled slightly, "But the Evil Queen?"_

" _I'm not too worried about her. She's away on business, anyways, and she's not evil." Elizabeth explained, finally looking up to meet his eyes. They were startlingly green._

 _Andrew gave her a puzzled look and eyed her as he said, "well, again. Thank you for all your help…?"_

 _He trailed off, waiting for her to respond. "I'm Beth." Elizabeth said, somewhat reluctantly._

" _Ah, Beth. My deepest thanks to you for abandoning your servantly duties to attend to a straggler like myself."_

" _Are you mocking me?" Elizabeth snapped, but there was no bite in her voice, and a smile played at the corner of her lips, but it quickly dropped._

" _Oh come on, you helped a handsome soul. Saved me even. Smile a little or at least let me show you my thanks in some way?"_

" _I should be getting back." Elizabeth said, turning towards the castle, again._

" _Wait, please. Sorry, I'll stop being full of myself." Andrew lightly grabbed her arm, stopping her. "May I take you on a picnic?"_

 _Elizabeth's head snap towards him, surprised. "I… You want… What?"_

" _You snuck out of the palace and came to help me. Honestly, I had no way to fix this, so who knows what would have happened had you not come." Andrew indicated down to where the cut was. "As a thank you, may I take you on a picnic?" His eyes were soft and sincere._

 _The pull in Elizabeth to say yes was strong, but she let out a small, sad, sigh, "You don't want to do that."_

" _Sure I do. We can work around your duties. I mean, the queen has to allow you out of the castle occasionally, right?"_

 _Elizabeth studied Andrew. There was a hopeful gleam in his eyes as he awaited her answer, "You don't want to do that because I'm not a servant. I'm... I'm the queen's daughter."_

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I asked Ray, as I walked into the local coffee shop. The kids at school had whispered nonstop, and even the patrons in here were eying me. "Here," was all Ray said, as she handed me a newspaper.

"She had him in prison?" I whispered, to myself, as I read the story about Henry's birth mother. My heart broke for her and looking up to Ray, I could tell she felt simlar. "If Henry's seen this..." I said, my heart dropping. Ray grabbed her backpack and walked to the espresso bar, calling to the Barista, "two to go, please!"

* * *

Ray and I had made it to the main street, when the one, and only, fire truck in Stroybrooke, zoomed past us. Something dropped in my stomach as I watched it turn toward town hall and started to register all the noise coming from that direction.

I took off running, Ray's confused yell, calling from behind me. My panic only increased as I reached the perimeter of town hall and took in all the commotion, emergency personnel, and people everywhere. My eyes started darting around frantically, until they spotted my mom, on a stretcher.

"Mom! I called, dropping my backpack on the sidewalk and sprinting over to her. "Mom?" I rasped out again, my voice laced with panic and worry.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She said, holding up her hands to stop me from crashing into the stretcher. "I'm fine, Madelyn." She snapped, stopping me dead. The EMT tried to hand her the oxygen mask again, but she batted it away. "Get your brother and take him home. I need to go to the hospital, and then I'll be there."

She sounded more annoyed by this fact than anything. I looked her over once more, and then to the building. The smell of smoldered fire was strong, and made me gag slightly. Looking around, I spotted Henry talking to Emma, and when I looked back to the stretcher, mom's eyes were on me, in a silent demand to obey.

I nodded once, acknowledging what I'd been told, and started toward my brother. Walking away, I could hear my mother still barking orders at the EMT. "Poor guy," I thought as I asked Henry if he was ready.

Ray had caught up by now, and still somehow had both coffee's in hand, my backpack strewn over one shoulder, and hers on the other. Giving her a tight grateful smile, I grabbed my bag and drink, then turned us to head home. At the edge of the parking lot, I took one last look at the burned building and the ambulance now driving towards the hospital.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

" _You said she was away on another trip, right?" Andrew asked, trying to get Elizabeth to look away from the palace._

 _After a few seconds, the girl finally tore her eyes away and reluctantly met his, with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, she… She comes back at random times." She explained, her eyes automatically returning to scan the palace._

" _We've met up three times now, with no problems. Let's stay positive, shall we?"_

 _Elizabeth's glanced back to Andrew, with an annoyed look._

" _Fine." She huffed, as she held her had out for some bread. Andrew handed her a roll, as he took a giant bite out of his own._

" _How many siblings do you have again?" Elizabeth asked, her attention solely on Andrew, now._

" _Free," Andrew replied, holding up three fingers and talking around the chunk of food in his mouth._

" _All girls?" Elizabeth asked, handing him the jug of water. He chugged down a few drinks. "Yep." He said with a laugh._

" _And your parents, they just let you roam the countryside?"_

 _A bashful look appeared on Andrews face, as he dropped his eye and lamely picked through the basket. "I'm supposed to be looking for work, and I have been, but, well, everyone is looking for it, or are too scared to open up, to strangers because of the Evil Queen."_

 _His eyes widened as he processed what he'd just said._

 _Elizabeth pursed her lips slightly, but moved on. "And you send what money you do make back to them?"_

 _Andrew simply nodded. "I'd rather be in school, but there's not time for that. However, my travels have lead me to some amazing books." He smiled at Elizabeth._

 _Elizabeth forced a tight smile back. "She's not evil, ya know." She said it so quietly, that she wasn't even sure if she'd simply said it in her head, out loud, but when she looked up Andrews eyes were piercing into hers._

" _And what exactly do you define inflicting fear and pain where ever you go and killing innocent people simply to track down a princess, as?"_

 _Elizabeth's eyes furrowed together in confusion._

" _I know she's your mother, and let me just say that apple fell very, very far from the tree, but you can't be that daft."_

 _Elizabeth's head was swimming, but she shook it and stood up. "I should be getting back."_

" _Beth. Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Andrew apologized, standing as well._

" _Huh? I'm not upset. It's just getting late in the afternoon and I should be getting home. Grandfather will have noticed I'm gone by now." Elizabeth said, indicating towards the palace._

 _Andrew leaned in suddenly, and when his lips met Elizabeth's, she backed up in surprise. She looked at him wide eyed, then step towards him again, her lips crashing against his, causing them both to topple over and down the small embankment next to them._

 _There was the crushing of leaves, mild screams, and laughs until they both reached the bottom. Andrew was breathless, but in good spirit. "I guess you could say that kiss swept us off our feet." He chuckled, but when Elizabeth didn't respond, he sat up slightly. "You okay?" Andrew asked, a smile on his face and leaves in his hair, but the amusement quickly left his face. "Elizabeth?" He questioned as he took in her sober face, and her holding something in her hands. He sat himself up further, and scooted his way next to her through the dirt and leaves._

 _Tentatively, he placed a hand on her elbow. Her eyes snapped to him. They were filled with anger, pain, and confusion. They both looked back down to her hands. There sat the locket. The clasp broken and the chain mangled from the fall. "I remember." Elizabeth whispered, her eyes looking back up to him._

* * *

 ** _Good news: I have the next few documents already saved on here. I'll just have to login in a post them over the next few days!_**

 ** _Bad news: No promises on consistency after that. Still applying to grad programs and working two jobs, but this helps the stress, so I'll try to write more consistently.  
_**

 ** _As you probably noticed, this ep is more flashback centered. It's to set up the next few episodes._**

 ** _Anyone watching Season 6? Hot damn! :o) I wont say more to prevent spoilers, but if you wanna chat PM me!_** ** _Stay rad, friends!_**


	19. Desperate Souls: Chapter 3

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

 _Regina poofed back into her sitting quarters, and angrily strolled to her chair. Throwing herself down, as she ripped off her gloves and looked up into the vanity mirror. Anger and seething oozed from her features._

" _How was your trip?" Came Elizabeth's sharp, soft, voice from the doorway._

 _Regina's eye snapped up to her daughter, who strolled slowly in the room. "Elizabeth, what are you doing in here?" Regina asked, as confusion took over her features at her daughters outfit of a dark green tunic and black pants. Regina tried to stand, but found herself stuck to her chair._

" _What on..." It was then the older woman noticed the necklace laid out in front of her, on the vanity desk. Her eyes widened and tore to her daughter's neck._

" _What's wrong, Mumsie?" Elizabeth voice was eerie soft._

" _Elizabeth." Regina breathed out, worry starting to show slightly on her face. "I.."_

 _The younger girl let out a humorless laugh. "Save it. I know exactly what you did. I remember everything"_

 _Elizabeth continued to stroll slowly towards her mother, and Regina struggled against the invisible force holding her down._

" _Don't bother, it's Grandmothers magic. You won't get up until I want you to."_

 _They older woman's eyes widened in surprise, again, and then looked to the spell book in her daughter's hand. "If you want to play dirty, mother, lets even the playing field."_

 _It was then, Regina noted the slight tremble in the girls hands. When she looked back up, she plastered on a fake, gentle, sympathetic smile._

" _Elizabeth, please. Just let me explain." The older woman breathed out, the confidence returning to her voice._

" _No. We're done playing by your rules." Elizabeth forced her body to be still, even though her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear, or focus._

" _Darling, what exactly do you plan to do?" Regina dropped the soothingly, motherly voice, and now had genuine curiosity, with a hint of mocking, in her tone._

" _I'm leaving." Elizabeth stated, standing a little straighter. Her mother's eye bore into her own, making her want to curl into a ball on the floor, but she held the stare._

" _I'm leaving and you're going to let me leave."_

" _Is that so? And what, you're going to run to Snow?" Regina sounded amused, "how do you intend for that to happen?"_

" _If I must, magic." Elizabeth's hands started to shake once more, but she ignored them._

" _My dear, I think you're in a little over your head, don't you?" Regina's eyes went back to the spell book, slight worry still gleamed in her eyes. "We both know you don't know how to wield that power correctly, my sweet."_

 _Elizabeth leased a shaky breath, "I never said I was doing this alone."_

 _The younger girl knew she needed to act fast, knew she'd lose her nerve, if she didn't get out of there. Plus, she had no idea how long her grandmother's magic would hold. Heck, she didn't even think it'd work to begin with._

 _Elizabeth cleared her throat, "I'm leaving." Regina started to interrupt, but Elizabeth held up a hand, silencing her._

" _I'm leaving and you're not going to stop me. I'm not coming back and you're not going to look for me. Period."_

 _The two women continued to hold each others gaze. Tears appeared at the corner of Elizabeth's eye's, from guilt or anger, she wasn't sure which._

" _I adored you, you know. You, father, Snow." The breath swooshed from the younger girl's lungs. Sucking air back in, she continued, her voice shaky, "I know I never listened to your orders, but you were my world. Do you remember, remember when you forced to me to take lessons from you?"_

 _A sad laugh escaped from the girl, as a small smile formed on her lips at the memory, failing to noticed her mother's stiffing. Elizabeth was looking down, lost in the memory, but her eyes floated back to her mother's, "I loved every second of it."_

 _Pushing her shoulders back, and squaring her body in a confident stance, Elizabeth continued, "Our family was my world, and you, you destroyed all of it." Her voice held no emotion, but the battle in Elizabeth's eyes gave away her pain._

" _That girl destroyed..." Regina tried to cut in._

" _That girl is my sister!" Elizabeth snapped. "What did she do, mother?! What could Snow have possibly done that was so horrible, you in turn ruined my life for it?"_

 _Elizabeth desperately wanted to know, to understand, where her mother came from. The pieces she was missing._

 _After a few seconds, Regina finally said, "she destroyed my happiness." The older woman's voice was hard, but some sorrow showed in her brown eyes._

 _When it was clear, the older woman wasn't going to continue, Elizabeth hefted another humorless laugh. "Well, I'm done letting you destroy mine." Her voice held no malice or anger, rather defeat. Defeat over a battle she didn't understand. Defeat over the pain she felt tearing apart her heart, knowing truly, her family was no more._

 _Regina had, what one might take to be, guilt on her face. She'd never thought, truly thought, what this did, would do, to her daughter._

 _Elizabeth took one more breath, steadied herself, and walked up to Regina. "I'm sorry." Elizabeth said sadly, then kissed her mother's cheek._

 _Her fingers were crossed, and Elizabeth prayed to a God she didn't believe in, as she pulled away from her mother. With every part of her, she hoped that the potion Andrew had gotten for her, would in fact work._

" _Goodbye, mumsie." Elizabeth whispered, her heart drowning in emotions as her mother's eyes glazed over, and then Elizabeth poofed out._

 **Storybrooke:**

"Dude! What did you eat?" I exclaimed at Henry, as he ripped another fart next to me. He had a triumphant smile on his face as he cuddled further into the couch, his attention solely on watching Grease, with Ray and I.

Suddenly, another fart ripped on the other side of me. My head snapped to Ray, as Ray was trying to mask her face, while mine contorted in horror and disgust, and Henry broke out into a fit of giggles.

"That vibrated the whole couch!" He exclaimed, causing Ray to start laughing.

I stood abruptly, waving my hands. "Air! I need air!" I yelled, running to the kitchen.

I could hear Ray and Henry still laughing and discussing farting tactics, causing me to roll my eyes, as I retreated to the kitchen for more snacks. "Gross. They're gross." I thought, with a smile on my face. Although, I couldn't deny they made me laugh though, too, even if they tried to kill me with toxic, bodily gas.

Walking back to the living room, I remembered I wanted my phone charger, to charge my phone before we had to leave. After placing the chips, bottled water, and banana's I'd grabbed, on the table next to the stairs, I quickly ran up to my room. I snagged my charger from by my desk, and was headed back to the stairs, when my mother's sharp voice cut through her closed door. She sounded furious.

"Go down stairs, Maddie." I said to myself, even as I found myself cautiously approaching the closed door.

Leaning my ear against it, I jumped slightly, as my mom practically yelled on the other end, "I don't care, Sydney. You will do as I say!"

There was a pause as, I assume, Sydney responded on the other end.

"That woman will not be the Sheriff. I will see to it, even if it's the last thing I do. This town knows better than to go against me like that."

Emma. She was talking about the blonde, I realized. I knew my mom didn't like her. The whole town knew that, but this… Especially, after Emma had saved her.

It had been a couple of days since the fire, and since then my mother had been at her office, locked in the study, or her room. I hadn't really heard her speak until now, and I was starting to wish it had stayed that way. This was hate and loathing like I'd never heard. Well, except for when my mom freaked out when Henry was placed in Mrs. Blanchard's class, but that's not important.

"To hell with Gold! I'll be in charge; you'll just do as I say."

I knew Sydney. He was a nice, slightly awkward guy, who would do anything for my mom. It was obvious to most that he liked her, a little too much, but him as Sheriff? No one understood why my mother was pushing this. Sydney was the lest intimidating person in Storybrooke. He lived to worship my mother, not protect and serve the community. Heck, Granny would do a better job, and would at least walk around town handing out cookies or something.

I was trying to wrap my head around this. What was the big deal if Emma was Sheriff? "This couldn't be about Graham could it?" I wondered to myself.

Shaking my head, I turned back to listen. "I wish I could shove that man back in a mirror," I heard quietly from the other side of the door. Processing too late that it was literally my mother on the other side of the door, talking to herself, as she pulled the door open. Causing me to spill onto her black, ever shiny, 4 inch stilettos.

I looked up to see her take her hand away from the door. The surprise in her face, quickly turning to confusion, then agitation and fury as she crossed her arms in front of her.

She simply raised an eyebrow, commanding me to explain myself.

"Uh, I… Uh, Henry and I wanted to know if we were going to eat before or after the debates?" I asked pathetically, even giving her a weak smile, but quickly dropped it, as her expression stayed hard.

"We're eating at the after party," she relied in a voice that told me to try again.

All I could muster was a regretful look at getting caught. "Sorry," I murmured and slowly stood up. My mom eyed me, but I couldn't tell why. "Go get your brother, we need to leave soon." Was all she said, as she turned back into her room.

I looked around for some explanation of what happened, but decided to count my blessing, and headed down.

"His hair is just dreamy." Ray's voice traveled to me on the stairs.

"But it looks gross and like he doesn't shower." Came Henry's innocent voice. "And why does he comb it so much? He looks dumb."

A sharp gasp rasped out and Ray dramatically shrieked, "Take that back! He doesn't mean it, John! He's a young, misguided soul."

Deciding to break up this charade, I walked in. "Henry, mom wants us to get ready to go."

"Oh, good." He replied, standing from the couch. "I still don't get why you two like this movie." He continued, a confused, pondering look on his face as he walked out. I watched him go, then turned back to Ray.

"Guess that's my cue to leave." Ray stated, standing up, and using the remote to click off the TV. "Wait, aren't you coming to the debate with us?" I questioned.

Ray was leaning down and tying her blue converse. "I'll meet you there. I'm walking with Chris and Derrick." She stood, now zipping her jacket and pulling her long golden hair out of the collar.

I gave her a confused look, "Why not just ride with us? We're driving straight there from here."

Ray's eyes darted up the stairs and then back to me. "Nah, I chose life." She said, ducking past me and heading towards the front door.

She paused, to grab her purse, just as my mother started down. "Madelyn, why aren't you ready?"

I looked down at my orange and white polka dotted socks, sticking out beneath my jeans. "I just need my shoes," I explained, looking back up.

"Try again." Was the response I received. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes, as I too, started towards the stairs.

"Well, see ya." Ray said quickly, yanking the front door open. "Bye, Mayor Mills!" Came through the door, as it shut behind her. My mother squinted her eyes, and pursed her lips, unimpressed by Rays departure. Taking a breath, I swallowed my annoyance and passed my mother to go put on more formal clothing.

"Maybe good can win." Henry said, his voice full of hope, as he sat across from me, on my bed. I let out a chuckle, "who knew standing up to Mr. Gold could give someone such power, let alone get them elected as mayor."

Henry beamed. Actually, he hadn't stopped beaming since we'd left the celebration dinner.

A knock sounded from behind us, and my mom stood in the doorway. "Alright you two, time for bed."

"Night, Maddie" Henry said, as he jumped off my bed and headed to his room.

My mom let him pass and watched him down the hall for a second then looked back to me, "Bed." She said, her eyebrows raising and her eyes telling me to get ready, now.

I got up to show I was listening, as she headed down to tuck Henry in.

As I emerged from the bathroom, and walked back into my room, my mom was in there looking at a picture of us on my bed-side-table.

Henry had taken it, as it was from one of the few times I'd agreed to help my mom bake. She told me to use the mixer thing, but when I turned it on, liquid, power, and all the ingredients within, were thrown out. Splattering us both, the counter, the cupboards, floor, ceiling, you name it, it was hit.

I had been so sure she was going to yell at me, but she hadn't. Instead she started laughing, hard, causing me to laugh, and we'd both slid to the floor in a fit of laughter.

Henry had come to see what was going on, and insisted on a picture when he saw us both splattered in white. In the picture, I'm looking at the camera. My eyes are gleaming and a little watery from laughing so much. My mom is standing next to me, looking at me, with her hands on my shoulders. A smile on her face as well.

A small smile tugged at my lips, thinking back to that moment. "I don't think it was fair you made me clean the whole kitchen myself," I said jokingly, walking to my bed.

My mom had a small, sad smile, as she looked from the picture to me. "You're the one that made the mess." She stated simply.

I eyed her. She looked… Hmm. Sad and distant.

She walked to my bed and sat on the edge, while I made myself comfortable. My mom let out a slight sigh and smile again. "I need to accept that my daughter has absolutely no baking abilities." She teased.

I narrowed my eyes, and stuck my tongue out at her. She was about to say something else, but stopped. I waited, but instead, she voided her face of emotion, cleared her throat and said a very formal, "Alright, goodnight, dear." She then leaned down to kiss my forehead.

I looked at her for one second, trying to process the abrupt change in our interaction, but she stood, and reached to turn off the lamp beside my bed. Sighing to myself, I snuggled further under the blankets, and turned to see the stars out the window. As my mom made her way out of the room, I said softly, "Goodnight, Mumsie."

With my back to her, I didn't see my mom go ridged and stiff by my door, or notice the surprise, and worry that was now in her eyes.

No, I was thinking about that Andrew kid. I didn't know why, but I wanted to talk to him.

Regina walked down the stairs, into the study, and straight for the liquor cabinet. Pouring herself a glass of scotch, and choking down a few drinks, before walking to the desk.

Her mind went back to that night. The night Elizabeth had stood up to her. Had used magic on her. The kiss that had turned her own love for her daughter, into hate, and heart ache. The kiss that had caused her to despise her daughter, almost as much as she despised Snow.

Regina stared hard at the picture on her desk. The picture of her two kids on the swings at the playground. Madelyn had insisted her and Henry swing together, while they were on a weekend stroll. Which, of course, caused a competition between the two, to see who could swing the highest.

Regina's eyes were on her daughter. In the picture, the younger girl's eyes shined bright, as she swung. Madelyn was looking at her brother, whose face was scrunched up in determination to beat his sister.

"Mumsie." The name echoed in Regina's ears. She hadn't been called that, by her daughter, in 28+ years.

Shaking her head to clear the memories, Regina grabbed the picture, shoved it into the desk drawer, and slammed it shut. She took a steadying breath, and then grabbed the report she needed to read over for her meeting the next day, the memories of the Enchanted Forest being shoved into the recesses of her mind. It was a coincidence. Only that.

* * *

 **I'm a little overly excited to post the next episode... It's a little sad, but eh. I write FF, so obviously I'm a nerd. I hope you liked this one, and cheers to the rest of your day!**


	20. True North: Chapter 1

**Only one chapter for this ep. Heads up that I'm travelling for the next week, so it might be awhile before I'm able to write/post the next one. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

"Hey, I forgot something." I said to Henry, as he browsed the comic books. "We need to go."

"You go. I want to read this." He indicated to the comic in his hands. "Okay, see ya later." I said, heading for the door.

I looked back at Henry one more time, and as I pushed out the door, I ran straight into someone. "Ooof, sorry." I automatically responded, as two hands grabbed my arms to steady me.

"My bad. I was walking and reading. A terrible combination, but one way to kill two birds with one stone."

My breath caught. The guy in front of me was smiling, and after insuring I was stable on my feet, released my arms to bend and pick up the book he'd been reading.

As he stood back up, book in hand, he asked, "Maddie, right?" I nodded. Still stunned in silence.

"You're in AP Biology next quarter?" He continued. I nodded again. "Cool, I'm in that class, too."

"You… you're Andrew? The Bio TA?" The words stumbled out of my mouth as he smiled at me. "Yeah! Well, only for this quarter. I'm in the AP class next quarter, though."

My mind had turned to a foggy haze, like I was trying to remember something.

"Anyways, I'll see ya around, Maddie. I should get to work." Andrew indicated to the store behind me, "It's inventory day, so I should get started."

He gave me a smile, and then ducked past me, into the store.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

" _Tell me again, how you got the potion." Elizabeth said to Andrew for the 20_ _th_ _time that day, as they neared the village. "I told you, Beth. I made a deal with someone who had it. Don't worry about it."_

 _Andrew gave her a gentle smile, and squeezed her hand. "But what kind of..."_

 _Andrew cut her off. "That's for me to know, and you to stop worrying about. Okay?" Elizabeth went to protest, but Andrew silenced her with a kiss. "Now, the village. We need more soap, some food, and you a warmer cover." He said, looking at the thin cloak Elizabeth had on her._

 _Elizabeth nodded, but said nothing, lost deep in thought. They walked until they found a place to camp for the night._

" _Alrighty, I'll head in, get the goods, and be back in an hour." Elizabeth simply nodded again._

 _They'd agreed it was best for her to stay unseen and hidden, as Elizabeth had worried someone would recognize her, due to the fact she was a younger version of the evil queen._

 _Andrew leaned in, and grabbed her face. "Hey, you did what you had to. Okay?"_

 _Since that night with her mother, Elizabeth had a never-ending battle raging within her._

 _Avoiding the eye contact, said "I made my own mother hate me. Distorted her memories and love for me… I'm just as bad as her." Elizabeth whispered the last part, her eyes focused somewhere other than the present. Andrew carefully lead her to a log, and pushed gently to sit on it._

 _When they'd first met up, after Elizabeth had escaped the queen, she'd refused to share what had happened. Only that they didn't have to worry about Regina wanting her back. Ever._

" _Hey." Andrew said, sternly. After a few seconds, Elizabeth reluctantly met his eyes. "You did what you had to. Beth, you're nothing like her. Nothing, okay? You didn't hurt anyone and never would. Besides, if anything, you made it easier on her and safer for all. Just imagine, if you'd left without doing it, she'd hate Snow even more and take it out on countless, innocent, people, but this way… well…_

 _Andrew paused, realizing the pep-talk hadn't gone the direction he'd hoped. "This way we can find your sister, and get you back the family you deserve."_

 _Elizabeth smiled weakly at his attempt. Holding his gaze, she said, "You're right. I know… I know." Taking a deep breath, she lightly smacked her hands on her thighs._

" _Go to the village, I'll set up camp." She reached into her pouch, and handed him some of the money she'd brought with her._

 _Andrew took the money in one hand, and squeezed her leg with the other, before standing. He gave her one more look, then kissed her on the forehead and set off._

 _Elizabeth watched him walk away. She truly hoped he was right, but in the pit of her stomach, she had all kinds of knots pulling at each other. If her mother hated her, that probably meant she didn't want her back… But did that mean Regina now wanted Elizabeth dead as well, like Snow?_

 _Shaking off the feelings, Elizabeth stood and started to inventory the best way to make camp. Knowing, that her battle with her mother was far from over, but deciding now wasn't the time to focus on it. Snow, she'd get to Snow, and they'd figure it out together._

 _Slowly, she turned and started to pull their supplies out of their packs._

 _Regina stared at the locket on her vanity. It reminded her of the betrayal, the betrayal of her wretched daughter._

 _She grabbed the locket in a fist, and clenched it tightly, then brought her eyes to the vanity in front of her. It showed that boy and girl she had found, in the forest. It showed Hansel and Gretel, who were waiting for night fall, to break into the blind queen's house._

 _A wicked smile spread across her face. No, she didn't need her daughter. She'd show Elizabeth. Any kid would be lucky to live with her. To have her care for them. No, she didn't need Elizabeth, she'd take those two. They'd want her._

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

"Have you ever asked mom about your dad?" Henry asked me, his legs swinging on the dock. I looked up from my history book, to him.

I closed my book, and thought for a second. "I mean, I think a few times, but I've never really pushed the issue. Why?"

Henry shrugged a little. "I asked Emma about mine."

I tilted my head, to look at him and raised my eyebrows. "And?"

"She told me how they met. He was a firefighter." He said, looking at me with a big smile. "I love firefighters!"

A small laugh escaped me. Henry had never said anything about firefighter previously, so I had a feeling his "love" for them was solely related to this new-found knowledge.

A thought occurred to me then and I looked at my little brother. Henry saw my stare, "what?"

My eyes went back to looking at the water, before I shared my thoughts. "Neither of us know our dads."

Henry, too, looked at the water, a pondering look on his face. "Huh, we don't."

Just then my phone chimed, pulling me from the conversation. I looked down, to where it lay next to me, and saw a message from Derrick.

" _Dinner at Granny's?"_ It asked. I paused for a second, and then picked up my phone to respond. _"Sorry, having brother/sister time with Henry. Rain check?"_

"Emma knows how to find people. She's finding Hansel and Gretel's dad." I looked from my phone, to see Henry looking at me. "Maybe she could find yours?"

I gave him a skeptical look. He insisted those two kids were Hansel and Gretel. Then his other words sunk in, and I hated that part of me liked the idea, but I shook my head. "No, Henry. That's not a good idea. Mom and Emma…" I sighed, "Emma doesn't need to go poking into mom's past. My past. That's dangerous territory. Besides, I don't care…" I couldn't look at him, but instead set my gaze on a seagull flying nearby. "From what I know, my dad wasn't great. I'm okay not knowing him, really."

Henry shrugged, then picked up the comic book I'd gone back and bought him after this morning's fiasco, and started reading it.

I, too, opened my history book, but just as soon closed it, again. My eyes thinking over the conversation.

"You don't care, Maddie." I told myself. "Don't go there. Don't"

I tried to convince my brain that I didn't want to know. That I didn't care, but the truth was, now that Henry knew something about his dad, I kind of wanted to know about my own. I looked to my little brother again, as my phone chimed.

 _Derrick: "You avoiding me?"_

I didn't respond, instead stared out at the water, lost in thought.

* * *

I looked at the door to the study once more. Pausing with my hand a few inched from the handle, then retracting it, and paced a few more steps.

"You going to pace all night?" Called my mother, through the door.

I froze, and then hesitantly opened the door, trying to swallow down my nervousness.

Peeking my head around the door, I found my mother giving me a questioning look over her paperwork and then she looked down again. Closing the door quietly behind me, I slowly approached the desk. If Henry was brave enough to ask Emma about his dad, I could surely ask about mine.

Plus, I was the distraction while Henry went to have pumpkin pie with Emma. Something about it being his dad's favorite.

I looked around the study. Everything within it screamed my mother. I didn't know where to stand or look, so I walked to the front of the desk. My mom was still looking back down at her paperwork, as I was trying to find my voice.

"You just going to stare at me or?" She asked, as I watched her sign her name at the bottom of a page, and then looked up to me.

"Can you tell me about my father?" I had intended to ask the question with confidence, but it came out sounding anything but.

She eyed me for a second, before putting down her pen, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "What do you want to know?" Her voice was void of emotion and her eyes didn't leave mine, searching for something.

I had to look away. Shrugging I said, "I don't know… Who he was? How you met? Why… Why he left?"

I was still looking down, but the silence became too much, and I brought my eyes, to look at her.

My mother huffed a sigh, and turned in her chair, standing up. Walking around the desk, she made her way to the liquor cabinet. "He…" She paused.

Pulling out a glass, she put it on the counter, and then looked over her shoulder at me. Turning back, she started to pour amber brown liquid into the glass, as she said, "He didn't leave us... He's… dead."

My mouth went dry. I'd always assumed, thought he'd walked out. An "oh" escaped my lips, and a staggered to a chair.

Holding the glass in one hand, other arm crossed over her chest, my mother leaned against the cabinet and looked at me.

I scrunched my eyebrows. "How'd he die?"

She pursed her lips, before saying evenly, "He was killed when you were young."

When she made no attempt to continue, I got a little agitated. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" I pushed, my voice sharper than I'd intended.

Her eyes we staring at the floor, her thoughts somewhere other than the study. "Mom!"

"What, Madelyn!?" She snapped at me, her eyes suddenly burning into mine.

Normally, I'd have backed down at that tone, but something snapped. "Tell me something, please! His name? What he did? How He died? Did he even know about me? Am I anything like him? Who the heck was he?"

I was startled by questions pouring out of me, demanding an explanation.

My mother stood, and walked backed to her desk, sitting down, and folding her hands in front of her.

"Why do you want to know?"

I felt my mouth drop open. "Why do I.. Are you serious?" Now I was irritated and angry. Why couldn't she ever just answer a damn question?

I jumped up from the chair I was in, and walked to the desk, slamming my hands down across from her. "Maybe because he's half of who I am? Half of the reason I'm here!"

Not moving, my mother said, "You need to calm down, before we continue this conversation."

"What conversation?" I yelled back, pushing back from the desk, throwing my hands in the air, and turning in an angry circle before facing her again, "You won't tell me anything. You never do! Not about our family, where we came from. My dad—Who. Is. He?" I demanded.

I was panting slightly, and part of me wondered when I'd become so volatile. I saw her nostrils flair, as she said back, her voice eerie calm, "I'll talk to you when you can act like an adult and handle adult conversations."

I ran my tongue over my teeth before, deciding it wasn't worth it. "Fuck this." I huffed, turning to storm out.

"Excuse me!" Came my mother's sharp voice from behind me.

I knew I'd gone too far, but I didn't care. When I didn't stop, I heard her chair scraped back with the force of her standing. "Elizabeth!" She yelled, causing me to freeze mid-step.

Silence. There was silence from behind me. I suddenly became very aware of how loudly my heart was pounding, as I very slowly turned to face her. I watched her face change from pissed off, to confusion, then to shock, concern, and... horror maybe.

My head, it was spinning, and I opened my mouth to speak, before closing it again. We just stared at each other, before she cleared her throat and said, sharply, "Madelyn Elizabeth Mills, you will not speak to me like that, ever again. Is that clear?" Her voice was shaking slightly, but from anger or some other emotion, I wasn't sure.

I still stared at her, but eventually nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"Go to your room." She demanded and I didn't hesitate, to run from the room.

Once upstairs, I closed my door and slid down it, wrapping my arms around my knees. What had just happened?

"Elizabeth!" She had called me Elizabeth. No, yelled it. And she hadn't even stumbled on my first name, she very clearly called me Elizabeth.

"It was just a mistake." My brain told me. "You were mad, she was mad. A mistake, nothing more."

But her face, the look that had crossed her face…

While my head told me it was an accident that she'd called me Elizabeth, my heart… My heart and gut told me it wasn't. But, if it wasn't I didn't know what that meant, either.

* * *

 **If you have time to review, that'd be great. Let me know if you like the direction the story is going, or if you have any requests. I have the whole thing basically written in my head, but I want ya'll to enjoy it as well. :o)**


	21. 7:15am Chapter 1

**I hope everyone had a good weekend. Enjoy!**

* * *

"You stare a little harder, it might magically appear in your stomach."

After a moment, I finally registered someone nudging my arm and talking to me. Blinking a couple times, I looked around and took in my surroundings. I was sitting at the counter, in Granny's, nursing a mug of coffee between my hands. Emma was standing next to me with a slightly worried look, the smile slowly leaving her face.

"Kid, you okay?" She asked, her hand still on my arm and her head tilted, taking me in.

I shook my head, and reached a hand up to tuck my dark hair behind my ear.

"Emma… Hi. Good morning" I said, and cringed at the strangled, chipper voice that attempted to escaped my lips.

I gave her a mix between a grimace and a smile. "Sorry, yeah. I'm good. Just a little tired."

Looking at the time, I saw that it was 7:30am.

Stepping up, and sitting on the stool next to me, Emma ordered herself a coffee and some biscuits and gravy, to go, as I took a long sip from my mug, willing it to wake my tired mind.

"So, what brings you to Granny's this early?" Emma asked, as she tapped her car keys on the counter, waiting for Ruby.

"My mom doesn't let me drink coffee, so, well… gotta get it somehow." I said with a guilty smile. "You?"

"Needed some breakfast before Sheriff duties, and I was spying on Mary Margret." Emma replied, smiling back at me.

I looked around trying to find the woman of topic. "Oh, she's already gone. You missed a juicy mishap."

"Are you talking about the love fest between her and Mr. Nolan?" I asked, turning back to the counter.

Emma gave me a surprised look.

"I'm here most morning for coffee." I said with a shrug. "Mr. Nolan comes in at 7:15, every morning, and Ms. Blanchard is always here. They sneak looks at each other, make awkward small talk. It's pretty obvious." I stated, while trying to wave down Ruby for a refill.

"Huh." Was the blondes response next to me. "Well, I better get to work or the Mayor will see to it that I'm fired for being late." Emma said, grabbing her coffee and to go bag from Ruby, and swinging herself off the bar stool.

I gave her a small smile in goodbye, trying to decide if I really wanted to drag myself to school.

* * *

"Guess who was in front of the house this morning!"

I jolted as Henry threw himself next to me on the picnic table. "Jeeze! What is it with you and your mother feeling the need to attack me in a sleep deprived daze?" I snapped at him.

"My mother?" He asked, scrunching up his face in confusion. "Wait, you talked to Emma this morning?" He asked with a smile, before remembering what he'd come to tell me.

"That new guy I told you about, he was in front of the house!" He continued, as he gave me an expectant look

"Am I supposed to understand why that's a big deal?" I asked, confused as to why this was important.

"Well… I don't really know yet, but we need to keep tabs on these things, for Operation Cobra." He said earnestly.

My mind flashed back to the conversation with my mother. "Elizabeth!"

The way she'd yelled the name still rung in my ears.

"Maddie, you okay?" Henry asked, looking at me, then taking in our surroundings.

"Wait, I meant to ask, why are you eating over here anyways?"

I was eating at one of the few picnic tables that sat next to the track. No one ever came out here because it was a bit of a trek, for a lunch time meal, or the kids who did risk the journey, were usually up to no good. However, with the brewing storm, I knew no one would be out here.

Deciding it was pointless to lie, nor having the energy, I sighed and said, "I'm avoiding people."

"Oh, does this have to do with your fight with mom?"

"My fight with mom?" I questioned, not following him.

"Yeah, you know? Whatever fight you two had that is making you avoid each other."

I stiffened involuntarily. "You don't have to tell me about it, I've just noticed you've been… different."

"Elizabeth!" The name echoed in my ears again...

"We… She…" Words were failing me. Sighing, I turned to my brother, "Henry, can I read your book again?"

* * *

 _Birth Giver: Where are you, Madelyn?_

After reading the text, I put the phone down. I honestly don't know why I still carried it, seeing as I can't even remember the last time I responded to a message. I was down at the docks, sitting next to a boat house, my back resting against a wall, and the story book opened on my legs in front of me. I was supposed to go do filing at my mother's office, after school, but decided I needed some air instead. The wind had picked up, but I didn't mind. Let the storm come.

Flipping through the story book, I paused now and again to take in the pictures and to adjust my hold on the pages, as the wind tried to rip them from my hands. As I turned to a page that had the older man and the Evil queen, I felt a twang jolt through my heart causing me to feel sad looking at it, but I still didn't know why.

Shaking my head, I continued. Suddenly, my mouth dried out and a felt my heart rate increase. That boy, I knew that boy. I quickly scanned the text and felt my stomach drop.

" _Andrew and Elizabeth had been looking for Snow for two weeks now, when..."_

"Fairy tales, huh?"

I jumped in my seated position, the story book falling out of my hands, onto the ground next to me. My eyes shot up, and widened as I took in Andrew, standing above me.

"Whoa, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He said, crouching down to my level and collecting the book from the ground next to me.

"Dang, this thing is heavy," he responded, handing the book back to me.

I gave him a tight smile as I retrieved the book, "good thing I didn't try to sit by the water." I joked. "My brother would have killed me if I'd dropped it into the ocean."

He let out a laugh, as he sat next to me, propping his back against the wall. We sat in silence for a second, before I randomly asked, "do you believe in magic?"

He gave me an amused look, "Man, you must have been at a good part in that book."

Feeling my cheeks staring to burn, I realize how dumb the question sounded, and looked down to the sand and dirt that covered my legs. Henry had buried the book at the castle, and I'd had to retrieve it from there. I lamely tried to wipe my pants clean, waiting for Andrew to respond.

I heard Andrew let out a breath next to me. "I don't know, but I do believe that more than fate keeps bringing us together."

Had my life not been a whirlwind of craziness, as of late, I would have blushed at that line, but with all that had happened, this wasn't a time for flirting.

I felt myself scowl, and after seeing my face, he continued, "Maddie, I'm not being sarcastic or hitting on you." Surprised, my eyes locked on his, and it was a struggle not to lose myself in their green depths.

"It's like… everywhere I go anymore, there you are." I heard him force air out his nose, "a month ago, I honestly hadn't ever seen you, but lately..." He let out a humorless laugh, and held up a small camera that I hadn't noticed he'd been holding. "I came down here to take pictures of the water and the storm, and who do I run into..." His eyes met mine, "you."

I just stared at him, curious where he was going with this. "I know nothing about you, other than you're crazy smart." He continued, as I gave him a skeptical look. "Hey, if Mrs. Tanner brags about you, and boasts about you being in her bio class, then you're smart." I felt myself blush again, as he went on, "and you're the mayor's daughter, but that's it. That's what I know about you… And yet… I feel like I know you more than that… It's… strange."

I was stunned by his confession and honesty, so much so, that I didn't know how to respond.

"I'll admit, I'm attracted to you, but I know you have a boyfriend. And yet, I still want to be around you. Find myself is randomly in the same places as you…" He shrugged, "so I'm not sure if I believe in magic, but I believe something greater than both of us is at play here."

I felt my mouth open and close and I had to look away from him. I couldn't say, _"Oh yeah, I think that's because my mother is actually the Evil Queen and put a curse on all of us. We're from a completely different land and have a whole history together, per this book."_

Ugh, I was starting to think like Henry.

"Oh, and that for the last few day's you've been eating lunch alone at the trouble maker's tables."

My mind jumped back to the present. "So you're stalking me? That's what we're really getting at here." I teased, raising an eyebrow.

Andrews eyes widened slightly. "Has anyone ever told you, you look like the mayor when you do that."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Yes, they have. Numerous times."

He let out a small laugh as we fell into a comfortable silence. The silence was broken when my phone started ringing. We both looked down between us, to see _Birth Giver_ Illuminated on the screen.

"Birth giver, huh?"

Clinching my jaw, I quickly pushed the decline button, and shrugged. "Were not exactly on good terms." I said simply.

"Wow, you have some balls. Declining a call from the Mayor? I hear bad things happen to people that stand up to her." His voice was light, and joking, but it sent a cold chill down my spine.

"I need to go." I said, abruptly standing. "See you later."

Andrew, too, jumped to his feet, grabbing my arm gently, stopping me. "Sorry, it was… I didn't mean" Andrew stumbled over his words.

I gave him a tight smile. "No, you're right, she's a tad scary sometimes." I tried to joke back, but my voice was flat. "You're fine. I just remembered I need to stop by the Sheriff's office is all."

He took a small step back from me, releasing my arm. "Oh, well, I'll see you around Lynnie."

I felt my face contort in surprise and confusion. "Lynnie?" I questioned.

This time, Andrew's cheeks burned red. "I, uhh.. I give nicknames to everyone I like… and well, everyone calls you Maddie or Mads from what I hear, so… I went with the second half of your name."

A genuine laugh escaped my mouth and I felt a real smile spread across my face. "Well, that's a first, and it sounds like you know way more about me, than you tried to let on." I said, still laughing. A smile spread across his face as I said, "See you around, Drew," with a wink, as I headed off. I could hear him chuckling, as I walked away.

My spirits were lifted, but only temporarily, as I headed back to town. The uneasy feeling returned to my stomach, with each step I took away from Andrew.

Taking a breath, I headed towards the castle to return the book. I no longer needed it. No, now I needed to find the blonde, I had some questions that I wanted answered.


	22. 7:15am Chapter 2

**Enjoy!**

* * *

After taking a deep breath and wringing my hands a few times, I walked into the Sheriff's station. I hadn't been in here in some time, and yet, nothing looked different.

Walking further in, I saw Emma trying to get a flashlight to work. "Son-of-a-bitch, does everything in this damn place need new batteries?" I heard her mutter to herself.

I stopped, still in the entrance to the office, deciding that this was a bad idea. I had just turned, when the blondes voice came from behind me. "Maddie?"

I winced at being caught and slowly turned to face her. Giving her a tight smile, I took a few more steps toward the desk she was at. "Shouldn't you be at home? Is everything okay?"

Looking around the room again, I reluctantly brought my eyes to hers. Emma and Henry had the same brow line, I realized.

"Kid?" Emma asked again, standing up and placing the flashlight in her hand, now on the desk, and taking a few steps towards me.

"How did Sheriff Graham die?"

The question blurted out of me before I could stop it.

Emma paused, shocked by my unexpected question.

"Okay, um. Here kid, let's sit down." Emma said, reaching out her hands as if to guide me to a seat.

I took a step back from her and said with a more even tone, "Graham… what was his cause of death?"

"Maddie, I don't know why you…" Emma started.

"You asked me once if I believed Henry, and well, I'm simply trying to figure that out." I said, cutting her off. I'd been trying to sound assertive, like I'd heard my mother be so many times, but my voice came out sound flat instead.

Emma eyed me once more, "I don't remember the conversation quite like that, but…" Seeing the serious look on my face, Emma sighed and continued, "Uh, the coroner ruled it as natural causes. His heart just gave out."

I automatically started chewing on my cheek, and started playing with my necklace. "Come here, sit down." Emma said, as I let her guide me to a seat. "Where is this coming from?"

"Do you believe it was natural causes?" I asked, as I looked into her green eyes. She sat in a chair facing me, and leaned back, letting out another sigh.

"What are you getting at?" She asked, a stern tone to her voice.

"I don't know..." I mumbled out. "My mom… She and the Sheriff... Well, I... They… He kissed you and..."

"And you've been talking to Henry?"

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"You know, how Henry is so sure your mom killed Graham." Emma continued nonchalantly. She let out a small laugh, but then sobered up as she looked at me. My eyes had gone wide, Henry had something about our mom doing it, but I'd brushed him off. But what if she had?

Clearly seeing the alarm on my face, and knowing where my thoughts had gone, "Kid… Come on. How would Regina even do that? Henry is ten and in this fantasy world, but you… I thought we were on the same page?"

After a moment all I could only muster was a small shrug. "We are." I said, unconvincingly.

Leaning forward, Emma waited until I met her eyes. "Graham had a heart attack. He was sick, and under a lot stress. It's tragic and horrible, but it does happen. Yeah?"

For someone who'd given up being a mom, the blonde was damn good at it, I found myself thinking.

Emma was right. The name slip with my mom was simply that, a slip of the tongue, and killing… that was way too extreme. I was acting crazy. Shaking my head, I said, "You're right. I think I'm just having a delayed reaction to his death or something..."

Emma eyed me, but didn't push further. Suddenly the lights flickered, and Emma looked to the window, as she stood, she said, "Alright kid, you better get home before the weather gets any worse. I need to go prep some emergency gear anyways." She rubbed the back of her neck. "And find some batteries" She said, glaring at the flashlight on the desk.

Standing, I went to fix my jacket, and the scarf I had wrapped around my neck, but my necklace was tangled in it. Probably from me fidgeting with it so much. Seeing my struggle, Emma reached out, "Here let me help you."

After struggling with the chain for a few seconds Emma said, "Huh, it's really woven in there." I could feel her gentle pulling around my neck. I heard a sharp in-take of breath, as I suddenly felt my necklace chain sliding from my neck.

Emma stood in front of me holding my necklace, a shocked look upon her face. I, too, stood frozen, as a wave of memories came crashing upon me.

"Maddie, sorry. The claps broke." Emma said, apologetically. Still holding my necklace in her hand.

However, I couldn't hear her. I looked around the room, feeling as if I was taking a big breath of air after breaking the surface of the water.

The blonde looked apologetically, but I wasn't aware of her. "Thanks for the talk. I should go." I said, not looking at her and solely focused on getting out of there.

"Wait, your necklace?" Emma questioned.

I turned, and looked at the broken chain dangling from her hand. Reluctantly, I grabbed it and gave her a small smile. "Thanks." I said, and started walking out.

"I can pay to fix it." Came Emma's voice from behind me, but I didn't hear her. My mind was still flashing memories before my eyes. Andrew, Snow, grandfather, My mother... My mother.

Anger filled my chest.

My mother.

I clutched my necklace tightly in my hands.

My damn mother.

"Alrighty then..." Emma said, watching the young brunette leave and turning back to her desk. Emma was really starting to question Regina's parenting. Both Henry and Maddie seemed to have some major mental health issues. Shaking her head, Emma slid on the giant sheriff's coat and grabbed some equipment to take to the cruiser.

* * *

Storming into the house, I slammed the front door. Henry emerged from the kitchen, eating a sandwich and dropping crumbs on the floor.

"Where's mom?" I barked at him.

Henry froze, mid chew, and looked at me. He shrugged, "she's not home from work, yet." he said, around the bulge of food in his mouth.

"Son-of-a…" Anger seethed from me, as I looked to the table next to the stairs. My mother's car keys were there. Grabbing them, I turned back to the door.

"Maddie?" Henry questioned from behind me, slight worry in his voice.

"I need to go take care of a few things." I said, as I went to retrieve my raincoat from the hall closet.

"but… mom's car. You can't just..."

It was true, I seldom ever drove. I had my license, but walking was easier, seeing as how my mother had a stick up her ass about me driving her perfect car.

"Leave mother to me." I said, turning to go. Pausing, I turned back to my brother, walked up to Henry, and gently grabbed his head. I kissed his forehead, and then turned and left, storming back out the front door.

* * *

It was freezing outside, and the rain had started pouring by the time I'd reached my destination. However, I paid no attention to the cold and the storm that was now raging outside. Shifting from foot to foot, I waited for the door in front of me to open.

I suddenly saw movement on the other side of stain glass windows, embedded in the top of the door, and after the door slowly opened, a confused Derrick stood before me.

"Maddie?" He questioned.

My heart hurt for the confusion on his face. I'd been avoiding him, hadn't talked to him in days… Derrick, Ray, and Chris.. I hadn't been able to face them with my mind the jumbled mess it was.

I was soaking wet, but didn't care. No, I needed to fix things, or change things. Actually I didn't really know what I was doing.

"Derrick... can we talk?" I breathed out, practically pleading.

He didn't open the door further, but stood and crossed his arms. Okay, well I deserve this I decided.

He looked at me expectantly, but didn't say anything.

"Okay..." I huffed out. Then taking a deep breath, I continued, "Derrick, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for how I've been acting. For how I've treated you as of late."

When he still just stood there, I shifted on my feet again. Sighing, I looked up at him. "I'm really sorry, but we have to break up." There was no point beating around the bush, I decided.

His slightly angry face, quickly contorted to one of confusion. "Wait, what?" Clearly that's not how he'd expected this conversation to go, nor me for that matter.

I gulped down the bulge in my throat. Derrick. He was one of my best friends, at least in this world... But, I couldn't, we couldn't… I loved Andrew.

"I'm breaking up with you." I whispered out.

"What? Seriously? What is going on, Maddie?" I tried to form words, but they were caught in my throat. There was no way to explain, so that he'd believe me. "Is this because you want to date that Biology TA?" He demanded, sounding angry again.

My eyes jumped to his in surprise. "It's… It's more complicated than that" I started.

He flinched as if I'd slapped him. "You know what, I'm done caring. You want to date him, then fine." He started to turn away from me.

"Derrick, wait!" I said, jumping forward and placing a hand on the door.

"I'm done waiting, Maddie." Was all he snapped out, as the door slammed in my face.

Part of me wanted to cry, but I was more angry than anything. Not at Derrick. No, he was a victim in all of this. I looked at the closed door once more, willing him to open it, to let me explain, but I also didn't even know what to say.

Slowly, I turned at trekked back to the car. My hands were shaking as I tried to put the key in the ignition. She'd done it again. My damn mother, had destroyed my life, again.

* * *

I'd waited out the storm out, in a parking lot, so by the time I pulled up to the mansion it was well after dark. I had no idea how this was going to go, or what to even say to my mother.

This was the last place I wanted to be, and I had tried to think of anywhere else I could go, but I realized I didn't have an escape. I knew Ray would be furious with me. I had no money for a room at Granny's, and well, Andrew didn't even know who I really was.

Looking to the window, I could see my mother sitting in the study, at her desk. "Typical," I muttered to myself.

Reluctantly, I turned off the car and got out. As I entered the house, I was met by silence, which surprised me, as I had been sure my mother would have been at the door, ready to attack.

Deciding to get it over with, I threw the keys on the small table, and headed towards the study. I heard my mother's chair, and then her footsteps quickly approaching the door.

"Where the hell have you been?" She demanded, once I was in her line of sight. I was just outside the study, my mother still within. She crossed her arms in front of her, her face a mask of rage.

My gray eyes met her brown, and I was filled with anger. All I felt was anger, fury, and hate. I hated her so much for what she'd done.

When I didn't immediately go to respond, she continued, "Madelyn, I demand that you..."

Scoffing, I cut her off and snapped, "Don't you mean Elizabeth?" She flinched somewhat, from surprise or confusion I didn't know. Hell, I didn't care. My new motto I suppose.

I simply took one more step up towards her, expecting her to step back, but she held her ground. Her hands now on her hips, almost as if she were daring me to continue, so I did.

"You… How could you?!" I screamed at her.

She simply raised an eyebrow, at me, not following. I was beyond furious, and struggling to speak, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out the locket, shoving it into her hand.

Her eyes glance down, and then widened, as they jumped back to mine. Her mouth parted slightly, but before she could say anything, I turned and walked out. Heading straight to my room, and slamming the door once there.

In my room, my anger was turning into tears of fury and heart ache, but this wasn't a time for crying, or self-pity. I'd cry later. Memories and feelings kept flashing before my eyes, but I ignored them. Now wasn't the time to figure out this Maddie vs Elizabeth stuff. No, now I needed to get out of here.

Looking around, I took a breath, and headed to my closet. Pulling out my track duffel bag, I started to fill it, with stuff. I had no plan, but all I knew was I needed to get away from _her_ , and find somewhere to think.

* * *

 **Welp, Elizabeth is officially in Storybrooke! There will be flashbacks starting next episode. Cheers!**

 ***Hey all. Just want to send out hugs and love during these crazy times. Best wishes, and please, if you need someone to listen or message, message me anytime. Your voice matters, regardless of what side you're on, I'm here for ya. I might not know you, but you matter to me. -Shan  
**


	23. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Chapter 1

_**Enchanted Forest:**_

" _He's here!" Elizabeth exclaimed, from her spot by the window._

" _That's nice, dear," Came Regina's unenthusiastic voice, as she fixed her hat on her head. "Grab your cloak, and let's go down, then." The older woman finished, with a sigh._

 _Elizabeth looked from the window, a wide smile on her face. The young girl eagerly grabbed her cloak from beside her, and ran to walk with her mother._

" _It looks like he's brought someone with him!" Elizabeth said to the older woman, as they made their way to greet the king. She loved when her father brought back visitors with him. They always had the best stories and this man looked especially interesting with his turban, vest for a shirt, and funny pants. "He's dressed as if he's from some place warm." Elisabeth continued._

 _Her mother said nothing to this news, but that didn't surprise the girl. She knew her parents had a strained relationship, but she loved them both, and they both loved her. That's what mattered._

" _After this, you must finish your writing lesson." The queen said, coolly. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but responded with, "Yes mother."_

 _Coming down to the court yard, the girl left her mother's side, and ran to embrace her father in an excited hug._

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

Things I've learned in the last 24 hours, the only good thing about living in a small town is that public spaces are often left unlocked and unattended. Over night, I managed to sneak into the school to stay there.; however, at first light, I headed out, not wanting to run into the weekend maintenance crew.

Deciding I needed coffee, and not wanting to risk running into anyone at Granny's, I headed to the coffee shop.

I'd just started my second cup of coffee, trying to write out a game plan in my notebook, when Ray's sharp voice sounded from beside me.

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

I looked up, watching as she threw herself in the chair across from me, and waved at the barista behind the counter.

Once settled, she faced me again. "A complete and utter jerk." She continued, as she nodded her head for emphasis.

Ray then looked down to my duffel bag, back up to my unkempt hair, and scrunched her face. "Why do you look like you slept in the woods?"

"How'd you know I'd be here?" I asked, instead of answering her question.

"After Derrick finally told me what happened, I went to your house to yell at you, but no one was there." This news surprised me, but I said nothing.

"So then I checked Granny's, but you weren't there either, so it was between here and the docks. And, well, with that crazy storm last night I doubted you'd be down there since everywhere is kind of a mess. You forget, I know you, Mads. Now, answer me. Why do you look like crap?"

Sighing I put my coffee down, and looked at her. "Because I slept in the locker room at school last night." Which was scary as hell.' But I don't add that last part.

"Okay, aaand why did you sleep there?"

The kind barista brought over Ray's drink, and gave us a weary smile. I tried to return the smile, as Ray took a sip, and waited for the girl to walk away before saying, "Because I've 'run away' from home."

Ray eyed me skeptically clearly expecting me to explain further.

"My mother… we, we are not on good terms."

"Like that's news. What the actual hell, Mads? You need to start at the beginning, now."

So I did. I told her about the necklace, and my mother putting it back on. I went over every detail of the last few weeks, what happened with Andrew, Derrick, Emma, Henry, and my mother. All of it.

When I finished, Ray was nodding her head again.

"Mads, I'm going to ask you something and I need you to answer honestly."

"Okay," I replied hesitantly.

"Are you on drugs?"

"Raaaay…" I groaned out. "No, I'm not on drugs."

"Then what's really going on, Madelyn?"

I flinched at the name, but kept eye contact. "I just told you." I said as earnestly as I could muster. I was becoming agitated at this interrogation, but I needed people on my side.

Ray eyed me again, and then gulped down the rest of her drink and stood. "Fine, when you're ready to talk to your best friend, I'll be around."

"Ray," I said in a pleading voice, but she cut me off.

"What you did to Derrick was a low blow, and if you want to date someone else then whatever, you do you. But WE are your friends, Mads, don't forget that." She put a lot of emphasis on the last part.

"I'm not lying." I tried again, but it was no use.

"Well, you're sure not telling the truth. You want to be a shitty person, then fine, but don't blame it on your mother. We deserve better than that."

With that, she turned on her heel and left.

I looked down at my notebook, and the list I'd been writing before Ray had walked in.

 _Destroyed my friendships._ I angrily wrote, under the list of things my mother had ruined.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

" _Miss, you know your mother dislikes you having wine."_

" _Hush, Mary. We'll miss the speech." Elizabeth says, as she sips the wine she stole from a nearby table and beams up at her father and sister. It's her father's birthday, and thus far, this evening has been splendid. "Besides, I'm fifteen. I'm plenty old enough."_

 _With that the young maid slips back into the shadows. As she did, Elizabeth glanced around just to be sure that her mother wasn't near._

" _Every day, I look upon you, and I am reminded of your dearly departed mother, who, like you, truly was the fairest in all the land."_

 _It's not unusual for their father to speak of his first wife. Elizabeth has heard from many of the servants what a wonderful woman she was, and mother. Snow speaks of her often, too. How they'd spend afternoons together, pick flowers, go on strolls, look at dresses, and she'd tell Snow stories every night. This often-made Elizabeth a little jealous, as her mother never really did those things with her, but Snow and her father had also lost someone they dearly loved._

 _Knowing how her mother felt about the deceased queen, Elizabeth looked around and found her still seated at the royal table. The young girl didn't miss the look on her mother's face, at her father's words, and watched as the queen left the party._

 _Turning back, Elizabeth was beckoned to join her father and sister up on the throne. Not glancing back, Elizabeth placed her wine glasses down on a table, and went to wish her father a happy birthday._

* * *

 **Author Note:**

 **So first off, a huge thank you to all of you who reached out to me. Holy cow, SO MUCH LOVE! I really had no idea people liked this story so much. I feel terrible for keeping you hanging. I will try to be better! I will. I know this is a short chapter (like, crazy short), but it's a start. I read over what I had for this episode and ended up not liking it, so I started over.  
**

 **I hope everyone is doing well, and thank you again for all your support, reviews, and messages. Seriously, y'all are the reason I got my butt back here!**

 **Best, Shan**


	24. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Chapter 2

**Storybrooke:**

"It's such a beautiful day, wouldn't you agree?"

I look up to see Mr. Gold standing behind my bench. I'm at the local park, and I take in our surroundings. Tree branches are strewn everywhere, and the kid toys are covered in mud, and debris. While it is sunny, and nicer than the storm last night, I'm not sure I'd got straight to beautiful.

I don't respond, and go back to watching two small kids jumping in and out of a puddle on the sidewalk.

"I heard a very interesting conversation this morning between your mother and Ms. Swan."

I still do not look up at him, but he knows he has my attention. "They seemed to be arguing over that dreadful play castle your brother seems to love so much, and whether it was worth saving-"

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion over this, but continue to listen, "and Ms. Swan asked about your location. Now you see, Ms. Mills, this is where it gets interesting, your mother, the Mayor I remind you, admitted to not knowing your location."

Mr. Gold has gone silent, and when I finally look up he's ginning at me, he eyes full of delight and malice. The look I've seen him give plenty of times, when he's about to get something he wants.

Deciding to play his little game I say, "What do you want Rumple?"

There's no surprise on his face, and my guess was correct. Rumpelstiltskin has had his memory probably this whole time.

"Ah, Elizabeth, it is lovely to see you, dearie." As he says this, he limps around to the front of the bench and takes a seat beside me.

He reaches into a breast pocket and pulls out a set of keys, "303 S Iowa St. Apartment 103. It's yours"

With this he holds the keys in front of me, "what's the catch?"

He gives a gleeful shrug, "Oh, consider it a repayment of one of your mother's debts to me."

I stare at the keys. It's a trap, I know it a trap, but… I have nowhere else to go. Sighing, I grab the keys from his hand, but say nothing.

With that, Mr. Gold lets out a satisfied sigh, stands, and straightens his suit. "I hope you find the accommodations to your liking, no worries about rent, that will also be on your mother's tab." He starts to walk away, but then pauses, "Oh, and dearie, if you find yourself twiddling your thumbs tonight, I suggest you attend the city council meeting"

I eye him suspiciously, but he simply starts walking off, whistling some tune to himself, and I'm left holding a set of keys to apparently my new apartment.

* * *

Slowly, I take in the room in front of me. There's a couch with a sheet over it. A full bed is shoved into the far, right, corner, and is also covered. There's a kitchen tucked into the back and it is separated from the living room by counter top.

I take a deep breath, but instantly regret it. Coughing, I move to the window and shove the shade up. Streaky light filters through the thick glass, and I struggle to lift the window a couple of inches, in its old frame.

Once I manage to get all three, smaller, widows open slightly, on the left wall, there's enough light in the small living/bed room for me to better asses the place.

The wall paper is old. Very old, and is slightly greenish white with simple lined patterns going from floor to ceiling. The floors are also old, dark, scuffed up wood floors.

There's no ceiling lights in the place, but there's a few lamps set around. Standing ones, as well as table lamps. I'm not too worried about the lighting, though. During the day plenty of natural light comes through the windows.

I decide to lift the corner of the sheet from the couch and I see that an old navy and white striped couch is beneath is. Clearly, this is a mixed and matched apartment, but I just remind myself that it's a roof over my head. Still not sure at what cost, but it's only temporary.

No matter how temporary, I realize I need to buy food as my stomach lets out a grumble. And looking around at the small place, a few cleaning supplies. I pull my wallet out of my bag and open it, only glancing in with one eye. Within, I see 3 crumpled 1 dollar bills. "Awesome." I say to myself, and flop onto the dust ridden couch.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

 _Elizabeth is walking around her mother's chambers, waiting for her to finish getting ready. They're to address people of the kingdom today, aside father. Really this just means endless standing for the princess, but she enjoys seeing the people. They're interesting and always bring random offerings._

 _Elizabeth starts fingering her mother's jewelry until her eyes land on a mirror she's never seen before. It is a handheld and the craftsman ship on it is exquisite. "Mother, where did this come from?" Elizabeth asks, holding up the mirror. It's much heavier than she expected.  
_

 _Regina has just finished putting on her earrings and turns to see what her daughter is asking about. Her eyes widen at seeing her daughter with the mirror from the Genie. "Elizabeth, put that down this instance!"_

 _The younger girl jumps and almost drops the mirror. She fumbles for a moment before carefully setting it back down. During this time, Regina has stormed to her daughter and grabs her wrist. Elizabeth winces slightly, as her mother continues, "how many times do I have to tell you, do not touch my things!"_

" _I'm sorry, mother." Elizabeth stammers out. Regina releases the girl's wrist, and starts to walk away. As she does, Elizabeth rubs where her mother grabbed her, shocked at the anger she just witnessed._

 _Pausing at the door, Regina takes a deep breath and turns back to her daughter. "Come, my child, your father waits for us to join him."_

 _Elizabeth give a curt nod and makes to follow her mother. When the girl reaches the door, Regina stops her, gently grabbing her daughters face. Regina turns Elizabeth to look at her and says, "I'm sorry for my outburst, but please do not touch my things. That mirror is very dear to me, and irreplaceable."_

Elizabeth's eyes slide back to the mirror on the table before the girl says, " _Yes, mother" in a quiet voice. Regina taps the girls cheek twice, and then, they head to the throne room, to greet the villagers for the day._

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

"Does mom know you're here?" I ask Henry as we sit down at the docks and swing our legs over the water. "Nah, she's at work."

I nod my head in understanding and after a moment I continue, "I'm sorry to hear about the castle, and the book."

Henry only shrugs in response, so I decided to tell him, "Oh, umm, I now have an apartment."

As I knew he would, Henry finally looks at me, surprise written with every feature of his face. "Where?! And, how?"

I wince knowing that he's not going to like what I say, "It's in the old apartment buildings off Iowa St. Number 103. Stop by anytime." I say smiling at him.

Henry furrows his brow, thinking about where that's located. After a second, he asks, "Doesn't Mr. Gold own those?"

Damn this kid is smart. "Yeah, I mean, the man own practically all of Storybrooke." I say, shrugging.

"You went to Mr. Gold? Have you gone mad?!"

"Henry, calm down. I didn't go to Mr. Gold… Mr. Gold came to me." Henry starts to protest some more, but I cut him off, "Really, it'll be fine. Besides, I didn't exactly have a choice. I had nowhere to go."

"You could have stayed with Emma!" He tries to argue back.

"And say what? Hey Emma and Ms. Blanchard, mind if I crash here while I'm on the run from my mother?"

Henry huffs out a breath trying to think of a counter argument, but I continue, "Besides, if I had gone there, that wouldn't have gone over well with mom."

We are both silent for a few moments when Henry turns to me. "What?" I ask, at his strange look.

His brow is furrowed again, as he's thinking. Eventually, he asks, "what should I call you?"

The question confuses me. "What do you mean?"

"You know, your name. What name do you want to go by now?"

"Oh," out of all the things I thought we'd talk about, this wasn't one of them. "Uh, I don't know." I say, honestly.

Henry nods, as if to say 'take your time.'

I'm still puzzling over what he's just asked when he starts to get up, "where are you going?"

"I need to get home, before mom does." He tells me, picking up his backpack. He suddenly starts digging around in his bag and pulls out an envelope, then he proceeds to hand it to me.

I give him a quizzical look, and slowly open the flap. The envelope is crammed with crash. My eyes widen and I quickly look to Henry. "Where the hell did you get this?!"

He shrugs, like handing out wads of cash is totally normal, "I stole it from mom's emergency stash that she keeps in the study. Figured you'd need some money, and if she starts asking, I'll just blame you."

This makes me smile. I had to hand it to him, it was smart. I pull the kid into a hug and squeeze him tight. After a second, I release him and ruffle his hair. "Thank you, Henry. Now, go on. Get home, and be safe!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He says, turning away. "See you around, Mads."

I watch my little brother leave the docks. After a moment, I remember I'm holding a crap ton of money and quickly shove it into my bag. At least I can afford groceries and cleaning supplies now.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

" _I don't understand." Elizabeth's voice is irritated and confused. She's due to meet her mother for her writing lesson, but the guards tell her that she not to enter. "You do know that I'm the princess, right?"_

 _The guards continue to stand rigid by the doorway, eyes staring straight ahead._

 _Elizabeth turns away, off to find her father, and to demand to know why her mother has been locked in her chambers. As she rounds one of the halls, the Genie passes her carrying a box. "This passage leads only to her mother's chamber, why would the Genie be heading there?" the young girl ponders to herself.  
_

 _Deciding he must be there to as a favor to her father, Elizabeth continues on, to inquire about her mother's entrapment._

* * *

 **Storybrooke:**

I enter the town hall only minutes before the meeting is supposed to start. I quietly sit in the back and luckily go unnoticed by my mother. I have no idea why Gold told me to be here, but there must be some sort of reason, and it turns out, I don't have to wait long to find out what.

Just after mom tapped her hammer thing, Emma and Mr. Glass stand up and start accusing my mom of stealing money. "Dear God, this isn't going to end well." I think to myself and sure enough, my mother manages to make Emma look like a fool.

The meeting lasts for what feels like forever, but once it ends, I quickly stand and head out, not wanting to have to deal with my mother. I consider sticking around to try and talk to Emma, but I know that it wont be possible without being overheard.

My mother tends to hem and haw after these meetings, so I head to the house, deciding to grab a few things.

Knowing that no one was home, I simply walked in the front door, when I get to the house. I quickly filled a second bag of my stuff: clothes, toiletries, some food from the kitchen, and such.

I was going to leave as quickly as I came, but something pulls me to the study and before I know it I'm tearing open my mom's desk, looking for the storybook.

At some point, I lose track of time and even my surroundings, and suddenly, my mom's voice cuts through the ruffle of papers, "Can I help you find something?"

I jump, knocking off a pile of papers, as I look at her. "I… I didn't hear you come in." I stammer out.

"Clearly," she replies, her lips pursing.

"What are you doing, Elizabeth?"

I'm startled by her using my real name, but attempt to keep my face blank. "Did you take Henry's book?"

It's now her turn to look surprised, "and why would I take his book?"

I shrug, "you destroyed his castle, so I wouldn't put it past you."

"Is that what you really think," She asks, walking further into the study and placing her brief case on a chair. When I don't answer, she continues, "For your information, the storm destroyed that play set and as you know from the town council meeting, I already have a new one in progress. As for the book, I have no idea where it is."

We hold eye contact for a few moments, but eventually I break it and look away. I nod at her, accepting what she's said. "Alright, whatever. I should be going."

"And just where do you plan to go?" She asks, moving to block my path, "the girl's locker room at the school?"

I'm not surprised that she knew where I'd stayed, irritated, but two can play this game, "No, I actually have somewhere to stay. Mr. Gold set me up with an apartment."

It's apparent from the look on her face that that wasn't what she was expecting. "You – You made a deal with Gold?" I can't tell is that genuine worry in her voice or not.

"Oh, what? Now you care about me?" I ask, side stepping her. "See you around mother."

"Elizabeth, wait, please." She pleads with me. Reluctantly, I pause at the door and turn to see her looking at me. "We're family." She says to me, her voice breaking and a few tears escape from her eyes. I let out a humorless laugh, "we stopped being family the day you had my father killed." And with that I walk out of the house, without looking back.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest:**_

 _Elizabeth is furious. She was turned away from her father's chambers because he was 'in meetings all day'. The girl had considered sneaking in, but if her father was angry with her mother, then Elizabeth knew he'd be upset with her for disobeying his guard just to ask questions about it._

 _When she'd returned later, the guard informed her that her father had gone to bed early._

 _Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would get her answers, and find out what was going on around this palace._


End file.
